I- 


_.^(Ty\.^ , 


1 


\'i 


PROCEEDINGS  AT  SUFFIELD, 


SEPTEMBER     16,    185i 


ON  THE  OCCASION  OF  THE 


OF  THE  DECEASE  OF  THE 

REV.   BENJAMIN   RUGGLES, 

First  Pastor  of  the  First  Congregattonal  Church. 


SPRINGFIELD,  MASS. 

SAMUEL    BOWLES    AND    COMPANY,     PRINTERS, 

1859. 


PROCEEDINGS. 


A  Hundred  and  fifty  years  had  nearly  expired  since  tlie 
decease  of  the  first  Pastor  of  the  First  Congregational 
Church,  and  no  monument  or  stone  had  been  set  to  indi- 
cate to  the  passer-by  his  hist  resting-phice.  The  idea  was 
conceived  of  erecting  a  suitable  monument  to  his  memory ; 
and  on  the  24th  of  May,  1858,  the  Church  appointed  Dea. 
Henry  A.  Sykes,  Daniel  W.  Xortox  and  Byron  Loomis 
a  Committee  to  Carry  this  into  efl;*ect. 

At  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  Church,  a  Committee  on 
Inscriptions  was  appointed,  consisting  of  the  following 
individuals:  Rev.  Henry  Robinson,  Rev.  Joel  Mann, 
Rev.  A.  C.  Washburn  and  Rev.  J.  R.  Miller. 

It  was  felt  to  be  desirable  also  to  observe,  in  connection 
with  the  above,  the  One  Hundred  and  Fiftietli  Anniversary 
of  Mr.  Ruggles'  decease ;  and  a  Committee  of  Arranjre- 
ments  was  appointed  to  make  suitable  provision  therefor. 
A  Committee  of  Correspondence  was  also  chosen;  and  the 
following  is  the  Circular  Letter  which  they  issued : 

Sdffield,  Conn.,  July  27,   1858. 

Dear :     Tbo  First  Congregational  Church  in  this    town, 

having  engaged  in  the  enterprise  of  erecting  a  niouument  to  the  mem- 
ory of  the  first  Pastor  of  this  Chureli — Rev  .Benj.^min  Ruggles, — and 
in  connection  therewith,  of  commemorating  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth 
Anniversary  of  his  decease,  September  IG.  1858.  X.  S..  have  voted  to 


invite  the  Citizens  generally,  and  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of  SufEeld 

abroad  especially,  to  join  with  us  in  the  celebration  of  the  day. 

The  Committee  of  Correspondence,  therefore,  respectfully  invite  you 

and  as  many  of  your  family  as  can  make  it  convenient,  to  be  present  to 

participate  in  the  exercises  of  the  occasion. 

DANIEL  HEMENWAY, 
DANIEL  W.  NORTON, 
HORACE  SHELDON,  2d. 

The  Anniversary  fell  on  a  very  nnpropitious  day,  yet  it& 
celebration  was  very  successful. 
The  officers  of  the  day  were  : — 

PRESIDENT, 

Dea.  HORACE  SHELDON,  2d. 

VICE    PRESIDENT, 

ARTEMAS  KING,  Esq. 

COMMITTEE    OF    RECEPTION, 

Messrs.  NELOND   LOOMIS,  GEORGE  A.  DOUGLAS, 
Dr.  ARETUS  RISING. 

MARSHAL, 

SIMON  B.  KENDALL,  Esq. 


FIRST  DIVISION. 

At  9  o'clock,  the  President  called  the  people  to  order 
under  the  elm  trees  in  front  of  the  Ruggles  and  Devotion 
Parsonage  Grounds,  and  as  the  morning  was  rainy,  they 
adjourned  into  the  tent  which  had  been  erected  on  said 
grounds,  for  the  purpose  of  having  a  collation  with  which 
to  close  the  services  of  the  day,  where  the  exercises  were 
as  follows  : 

Invocation  by  Rev.  Henry   Cooley. 

Rev.  A.  C.  "Washburn  read  the  following  selected  por- 
tions of  Scripture : — 

"  0  Lord,  how  manifold  are  thy  works  !  in  wisdom  hast  thou  made 
them  all.  Our  fathers  trusted  in  thee  :  they  trusted,  and  thou  didst 
deliver  them.     We  have  heard  with  our  ears,  0  God,  our  fathers  have 


told  us,  what  work  tliou  didst  in  their  day,  in  the  times  of  old.  For 
they  got  not  the  land  in  possession  Ijy  their  own  sword,  neither  did 
their  own  arm  save  them ;  but  thy  right  hand,  and  thine  arm,  and  the 
light  of  thy  countenance,  because  thou  hadst  a  favor  unto  them.  The 
Lord  is  our  defence  ;  and  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  is  our  King.  God 
is  our  refuge  and  strength,  a  very  present  help  in  time  of  trouble. 
Hear  this,  ye  old  men,  and  give  ear,  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land. 
Tell  ye  yoiu-  children  of  it,  and  lot  your  children  tell  their  children, 
and  their  children  to  another  generation.  Know  therefore  this  day, 
and  consider  it  in  thine  heart,  that  the  Lord  he  is  God  in  heaven  above 
and  upon  the  earth  beneath  :  there  is  none  else.  Thou  shalt  keep 
therefore  his  statutes,  and  his  commandments,  which  I  command  thee 
this  day,  that  it  may  go  well  with  thee,  and  that  thou  mayest  prolong 
thy  days  upon  the  earth,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee.  God 
be  merciful  unto  us,  and  bless  us,  and  cause  his  face  to  shine  upon  us : 
that  our  sons  may  be  as  plants  grown  up  in  their  youth ;  that  our 
daughters  may  be  as  corner-stones,  polished  after  the  similitude  of  a 
palace.  Happy  is  the  people  that  is  in  such  a  case  ;  yea,  happy  is 
that  people  whose  God  is  the  Lord.  God  shall  bless  us  ;  and  all  the 
ends  of  the  earth  shall  fear  him.  Let  the  people  praise  thee,  0  God  ; 
let  all  the  people  praise  thee.  0  let  the  nations  be  glad,  and  sing  for 
joy.  0  Lord  God  of  liosts,  who  is  a  strong  Lord  like  unto  thee  ?  0 
Lord  of  hosts,  blessed  is  the  man  that  trusteth  in  thee." 

Rev.  Henry  Robinson  offered  the  following  Prayer  : 

Almighty  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  we  are  assembled  in  thy  prov- 
idence, under  circumstances  of  deep  and  solemn  interest.  We  feel 
that  the  place  where  we  stand  is  holy  ground.  Here  was  the  dwelling 
of  thy  servant,  under  whose  ministrations  a  church  of  Clirist  was  first 
planted  in  this  town.  Here  he  gathered  around  him  his  beloved  fami- 
ly and  experienced  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  earth.  Here  he  erected  an 
altar  to  thy  name,  and  prayed,  and  labored,  and  wept  for  the  souls  com- 
mitted to  his  care.  Here  his  successor  in  office  passed  through  similar 
scenes  of  labor  and  trial ;  and  fi-om  this  consecrated  spot,  we  doubt 
not,  they  went  up  to  dwell  with  thee  in  that  house  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  We  thank  thee  for  their  holy  and 
bright  example.  We  thank  thee  for  the  good  tliey  accomplished 
during  their  lifetime,  and  for  the  good  that  lias  come  to  succeeding  gen- 
erations through  tlieir  faitliful  labors.  We  thank  thee  that  tliis  day 
has  been  set  apart  by  this  churcli,  for  the  purpose  of  calling  to  remem- 


6 

brance  tliese,  its  early  pastors,  and  others  who  have  spoken  to  it  the 
word  of  God,  but  have  finished  their  eartldj  course.  We  beseech  thee 
to  grant  thy  assistance  in  all  the  exercises  in  which  we  may  engage. 
Make  the  occasion  one  of  blessing  to  the  pastor  and  members  of  this 
church,  and  to  all  who  may  attend  upon  the  services  of  the  day. 
While  called  to  review  thy  dealings  with  this  beloved  flock,  and  the 
manifestations  of  thy  goodness  in  this  town,  may  our  hearts  go  forth  to 
thee  in  devout  gratitude  and  praise.  And  to  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  be  all  the  glory.     Amen. 

The  following  words  were  sung  in  tlie  old  style  of  lining : 

"  What  though  the  arm  of  conquering  death, 
Does  God's  own  house  invade  ? 
What  though  the  prophet  and  the  priest 
Are  numbered  with  the  dead  ? 

Though  earthly  shepherds  dwell  in  dust, — 

The  aged  and  the  young, 
The  watchful  eye  in  darkness  closed. 

And  mute  the  instructive  tongue  : — 

Th'  eternal  Shepherd  still  survives. 

New  comfort  to  impart  ; 
His  eye  still  guides  us,  and  his  voice 

Still  animates  our  heart." 


SECOND    DIVISION". 
A  Procession  was  formed  and  proceeded  to  the  Burial 
Ground,  and  formed  a  hollow  square  around  the  Monu- 
ment, where  were  performed  the  following  exercises ; — 

REPOKT     OF     EXECUTIVE     COMMITTEE,     TO    THE    FIRST     CONGRE- 
GATIONAL   CHURCH   IN    SUFFIELD. 

Dear  Brethren  : — The  undersigned  appointed  by  your  suffrage,  an 
Executive  Committee,  for  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  the  memory 
of  Rev.  Benjamin  Ruggles,  first  pastor  of  the  church  in  this  town, 
and  his  consort,  respectfully  report : — 

Upon  assuming  the  duties  assigned  them,  the  attention  of  your  com- 
mittee was  directed  toward  the  adoption  of  a  suitable  design  for  said 


monument ;  and  the  thought  oceurrecl  to  their  minds  that  a  model  of 
the  first  house  erected  for  public  worship  in  this  town,  in  which  Mr. 
RuGGLES  was  ordained,  would  be  well  adapted  for  the  purpose,  and  at 
the  same  time  be  an  interesting  memento  of  the  humlde  house  in  which 
our  fathers  worshiped.  Upon  further  consideration  the  idea  was  by 
them  adopted  ;  and  plans  for  such  a  monument  were  prepared,  repre- 
senting said  house  in  its  general  form,  as  near  as  could  l)e  gathered 
,from  records  concerning  it,  and  by  inference  from  the  known  architec- 
ture of  that  period. 

The  place  of  Mr.  Ruggles'  sepulture  has  been  a  subject  of  investiga- 
tion by  your  committee.  It  is  well  known  that  a  dilapidated  monu- 
ment remained  to  mark  the  grave  of  Mrs.  Ruggles,  but  otherwise  there 
was  nothing  visible  to  mark  his  grave.  There  is  a  record  under  date 
of  September  22,  1708,  seventeen  days  subsequent  to  Mr.  Ruggles' 
decease,  that  it  was  voted  to  allow  John  Rising  and  Samuel  Sikes  a 
compensation  "  for  their  going  to  the  Bay  with  y®  Rev.  Mr.  Ruggles  ;  " 
and  August  2,  1709,  about  one  year  later,  it  was  "  voted  to  set  a 
decent  tomb  upon  the  grave  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Benjamin  Ruggles, 
deceased,  upon  the  town's  charge."  The  first  of  the  above  quoted  votes 
shows  that  Mr.  Ruggles  had  journeyed  to  Roxbury,  the  place  of  his 
nativity,  no  great  length  of  time  previous,  and  as  no  tomb  or  monument 
marked  his  grave  here,  the  question  arose,  "  Did  not  his  death  occur 
while  absent  on  a  visit  to  his  friends?"  To  satisfy  their  minds  with 
respect  to  this  and  also  with  respect  to  his  birth,  they  have  examined 
the  records  of  Roxbury,  his  native  place,  and  also  of  Braintree  and 
Weymouth,  where  some  of  his  kindred  resided.  By  this  investigation 
your  committee  were  convinced  that  he  died  in  SuflSeld,  and  that  here 
was  the  place  to  look  for  his  grave.  Upon  locating  the  moiuinient  and 
excavating  for  its  foundation,  the  grave  of  Mrs.  Ruggles  was  very 
readily  found,  but  nothing  indicating  the  resting  place  of  Mr.  Ruggles. 
Mrs.  Ruggles'  grave  was  found  to  lie  close  to  the  east  side  of  the 
Monument,  and  upon  investigation  by  excavating  on  the  east  side  of 
her  grave,  the  place  of  Mr.  Ruggles'  sepulture  was  found  to  be  under 
the  Avenue,  four  feet  from  the  monument.  Since  this  investigation 
your  committee  have  also  received  testimony  from  Rev.  Samuel  Ruggles 
of  Fort  Atkinson,  Wisconsin,  saying  that  his  ancestor,  Rev.  Benjamin 
Ruggles,  died  in  this  town,  and  was  buried  by  the  side  of  his  wife. 

Another  subject  for  consideration  was  the  disposition  to  be  made  of 
the  stone  slab  which  for  one  hujidred  and  fifty  years  had  markeil  the 
grave  of  Mrs.  Ruggles  ;  and  your  committee  came  to  the  conclusion  to 


8 

deposit  it  in  the  gi-ound  over  the  graves  of  Mr.  Ruggles  and  his  con- 
sort ;  and  it  has  thus  been  deposited,  extending  east  from  the  monument 
over  both  their  graves. 

Brethren,  the  monument  is  before  you,  bearing  upon  one  side  an 
inscription,  to  tlie  memory  of  Mr.  Euggles,  a  draft  of  which  was 
presented  to  us,  by  the  committee  whom  you  appointed  to  prepare  it ; 
and  on  the  other  side  is  -a  fac  simile  of  the  inscription,  with  its  accom- 
panying quaint  emblems,  which  the  old  monument  has  so  long  borne. 
The  whole  expense  of  the  monument  and  fixtures  has  been  some  three 
hundred  dollars.  Through  your  munificence,  aided  by  that  of  some  of 
our  fellow  citizens  and  some  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Suffield 
abroad,  we  have  been  enabled  to  accomplish  this  work. 

In  the  days  when  our  fathers  assembled  to  worship  God  in  the 
liumble  house  of  which  this  monument  is  both  a  model  and  a  memento, 
"  a  red  flag  "*  was  hung  out  to  notify  them  of  the  hour  for  meeting. 

As  a  token  of  our  offering  this  monument  for  your  acceptance  and  to 
your  care  we  now  place  upon  it  this  little  flag,  which  we  present  to  the 
pastor  of  this  church,  as  a  memento  of  the  transactions  of  this  day,  and 
of  the  days  of  his  early  predecessors  in  the  pastoral  office. 

Yours  in  the  Fellowship  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ, 
HENRY  A.  SYKES, 
DANIEL  W.  NORTON, 
BYRON  LOOMIS, 

Executive  Gommitiee. 

Suffield,  Ct.,  September  16,  1858. 

REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  ON  INSCRIPTIONS,  TO  THE  FIRST  CONGRE- 
GATIONAL CHURCH  IN  SUFFIELD. 

The  committee  appointed  by  the  church  to  prepare  an  inscription  for  the 
monument  of  Rev.  Benjamin  Ruggles,  would  present  the  follow- 
ing report : — 

As  the  members  of  the  committee  were  too  distant  from  one  another 
to  render  a  personal  interview  convenient,  they  could  accomplish  the 
object  of  their  appointment  only  by  correspondence.  They  have  given 
such  attention  to  the  matter  as  their  situation  and  the  shortness  of  the 


*  April  6,  1685.  "  Agreed  and  voted  to  begin  the  meeting  on  y^  Sabbath  at  nine 
of  the  clock  in  the  morning  and  at  halfe  an  houre  after  one  of  y^  clock  in  the  after- 
noone — And  that  the  Townsemen  shall  upon  ye  townes'  cost  procure  a  ladder  and 
alsoe  a  red  flagg  to  hang  out  for  a  signe  that  persons  may  know  the  time  for 
assembling  together." — Town  Records. 


'g\i)^^e/T^ 


I 


-  ■-■5N9''§/§' 


.-■>4L/a\g\£)i 


9 

time  permitted.  The  principal  facts  embodied  in  the  inscription  were 
furnished  by  tlie  kindness  of  Mr.  Hexry  A.  Sykes,  to  whose  thorough 
investigations  at  home  and  abroad,  the  committee  would  acknowledge 
themselves  highly  indebted. 

The  inscription  is  as  follows : 

"Rev.  benjamin  RUGGLES  ; 

Born  ix  Roxbury,  Mass.,  August  il,  1676,  0.  S. 

Graduated  at  Harvard,  1693  ; 

Ordained  in  Suffield,  April  26,  1698. 

Died   September  5,  1708,  Aged  32. 

TUE    character    GIVEN     HIM    IN    THE     RECORD     OF    THE    PAST,    IS    THAT 
OF  .A    HUMBLE    CHRISTIAN  ;    A    TRUE    PEACEMAKER  ;    AN    EVAN- 
GELICAL   preacher,    AND    A    SUCCESSFUL    PASTOR. 
'  The  Righteous  shall  be  in  everlasting  remembrance.' 
ERECTED 
BY    THE    FIRST     CONGREGATIONAL    CHURCH    IN     SUFFIELD,    IN    HONOR    OF 
ITS    FIRST     PASTOR   AND    IN    CONNEXION   WITH    THE  ONE     HUN- 
DRED AND  FIFTIETH  ANNIVERSARY    OF  HIS    DECEASE, 
COMMEMORATED   SEPTEMBER  16,  1858,  N.  S." 

JOEL  MANN, 
HENRY  ROBINSON, 
ASAHEL  C.  WASHBURN, 
JOHN  R.  MILLER, 

Committee  on  Inscriptions. 
SuFFiELD,  September  16,  1858. 

RESPONSE  OF  REV.  J.  R.  MILLER,  PASTOR  OF  THE  FIRST  CONGRE- 
GATIOXAL  CHURCH. 

Mr.  President  : — A  response  is  expected  ;  and  it  naturally  devolves 
upon  the  pastor  of  the  church,  as  chairman  of  its  business  meetings  ; 
but  it  is  with  diffidence  and  yet  with  pleasure  that  I  appear  to  perform 
this  duty  on  an  occasion  like  this. 

The  reports  just  made  by  the  executive  committee,  and  the  commit- 
tee on  inscriptions  point  us  to  this  Monument  as  the  object  of  our 
present  thoughts,  designed  by  its  structure  to  be,  in  the  language  of 
the  report,  "  an  interesting  memento  of  the  humble  house  in  which 
OUR  FATHERS  WORSHIPED."  Behold  it ;  mark  its  form  ;  read  its  inscrip- 
tions ;  they  carry  us  back  in  imagination  a  hundred  and  fifty  years ; 
2 


10 

and  wbat  monumental  form  could  be  more  befitting  the  object  we  have 
anned  at  in  the  erection  of  this  !  Then  the  godly  man,  whose  mortal 
remains  have  since  been  mouldering  side  by  side  with  those  of  his 
beloved  consort  under  this  sacred  sod,  and  in  honor  of  whom  this  Mon- 
ument has  now  been  erected,  had  finished  his  earthly  labors.  He  had 
sowed  the  seed  that  is  gladdening  us  by  its  fruits  to-day. 

A  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  !  That  is  far  back  in  our  country's 
history.  You  see  by  that  inscription  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ruggles  was 
born  within  fifty-six  years  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims  on  Plymouth 
Rock  ;  and  that  his  death  occurred  within  eighty-eight  years  of  that 
time,  ever  memorable  in  the  annals  of  New  England.  Ten  years  as 
pastor,  and  two  years  previously,  he  labored  as  a  pioneer  in  laying  the 
foundations  of  a  religious  society  on  this  spot,  blessed  of  God  above 
most  other  places,  both  in  beauty  and  fertility. 

But  could  he  descend  to-day,  would  he  recognize  the  scene  of  his 
earthly  labors  ? 

Yon  hills  remain  ;  the  general  configuration  of  the  land  is  the  same  ; 
the  same  sun,  and  moon,  and  stars  shine  down  upon  it :  but  time  has 
wrought  a  mighty  change.  Not  a  house,  I  suppose,  remains  that  was 
then  standing,  unless  it  has  been  so  thoroughly  remodeled  as  to  be 
made  over  almost  entirely  new ;  and  few,  if  any,  are  the  trees  that 
were  even  saplings  then.  Those  grand  old  forests  that  stood  on  these 
fields  have  all  disappeared.  And  the  fathers,  where  are  they  ?  Gone  ; 
all  gone.  Many  of  them  sleep  on  this  very  spot.  Their  graves  are 
HERE ;  and  the  graves  of  many  of  their  children ;  yea,  and  of  their 
ehildrens'  children.  A  succession  of  pastors  have  here  lived  and  la- 
bored. The  monuments  of  some  of  them  we  behold,  standing  here 
where  we  now  stand.  Generations  have  here  passed  away.  Many 
scenes  and  events  have  here  transpired.  How  different  from  a  hundred 
and  fifty  years  ago  all  things  here  to-day  ! 

This  country  was  not  free,  but  under  British  rule  when  our  first 
pastor  labored  here.  He  came  to  this  place  during  the  time  embraced 
in  what  is  known  as  King  William's  war.  The  tragedy  of  Deerfield 
Mass.,  in  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Williams  and  all  his  family  were  taken 
captive  by  the  Indians,  occurred  during  the  latter  part  of  his  ministry. 
Since  then  we  have  grown  into  an  independent  Republic.  The  wars  of 
the  revolution  have  been  fought ;  a  succession  of  Presidents  have  been 
elected  to  office,  and  retired ;  population  has  multiplied ;  education 
has  advanced ;  the  arts  have  been  cultivated ;  religion  has  spread  ; 
schools,  colleges,  churches,  and  cities  have  thickened  in  the  land  ;   the 


11 

events  of  a  great  and  growing  nation  have  transpired  ;  a  net-work 
of  railways  and  telegraph  wires  have  made  this  wide-spread  country  as 
a  neighborhood  ;  and  recently  the  two  continents  have  been  bound  to- 
gether by  a  CABLE  through  which  there  is  said  to  be  free  communication 
of  thought  and  intelligence — words  like  lightning  leap  to  and  fro 
through  their  mighty  course  along  the  ocean's  bed.  Standing  here  to- 
day how  difficult  to  conceive  the  difference  between  now,  and  then. 
The  place  has  changed ;  the  country  has  changed ;  the  times  are 
changed. 

But  the  erection  of  this  Monument,  and  the  gathering  of  this  assem- 
bly prove  that  the  seed  sown  by  our  first  pastor  has  not  been  lost,  but 
that  there  are  here  to-day,  those  who  hold  a  sympathy  with  the  man, 
and  with  his  chi-istian  work.  Instead  of  the  fathers  are  the  children. 
A  like  spirit  animates  them.  And  they  will  not  suffer  the  fathers  to 
be  forgotten,  No.  They  have  copied  from  the  good  old  Bible,  and 
engraved  on  this  tablet  as  their  sentiment, 

"  The  righteous  shall  he  in  everlasting  remenibrance." 

The  transactions  of  this  day  say  loudly,  "  Let  the  righteous  in  our 
memory  live,  and  let  their  righteous  deeds  be  recorded."  It  is  right. 
It  is  beneficial.  We  owe  it  to  them.  We  owe  it  to  ourselves,  and 
our  children,  and  coming  posterity.  We  owe  it  to  Grod.  And  why 
to  God  ?  Because  in  every  church  there  is  a  history,  and  the  dealings 
of  God  are  to  be  traced  in  that  history.  Therefore  the  erection  of  this 
Monument  is  a  noble  and  praise-worthy  undertaking.  It  is  important 
in  its  historic  bearings.  The  facts  that  will  be  thus  rescued  from  ob- 
livion are  important.  They  will  be  gathered  up,  and  handed  down  as 
items  first  and  important  in  the  history  of  God's  gracious  dealings  with 
his  church  in  this  place. 

This  movement  is  attended  with  some  cost  of  thought,  and  labor, 
and  money.  But  we  would  have  none  of  that  narrow-minded,  parsi- 
monious, selfish,  mean,  Judas-like  spirit,  that  would  say,  "  AVhorcfore 
is  this  waste,  for  this  Monument  might  have  been  spared,  and  the 
THREE  HUNDRED  DOLLARS  givcu  to  the  poor."  No.  And  it  is  not  those 
who  care  most  for  the  poor,   that  would  say  this. 

Would  there  were  more  of  this  philanthrophy.  It  opens  the  heart, 
and  makes  broader  and  deeper  the  christian  sentiment. 

Therefore,  Mr.  President,  I  will  here  introduce  a  short  episode,  and 
speaking  as  a  citizen  of  Suffield,  make  a  suggestion.  Back  of  Mr. 
RuGGLES,  there  was  a  minister  here — the  Rev.  Joun  Younglove.     He 


12 

was  pre-eminently  the  minister  of  the  town.  He  is  buried  on  this  spot, 
but  no  stone  marks  the  place  of  his  grave.  Now  would  it  not  be  no- 
ble in  us  as  a  town  to  do  for  his  memory  as  the  first  minister,  what 
the  first  church  has  done  for  the  memory  of  its  first  pastor  ? 

This  is  an  age  of  sentiment ;  and  sentiment  as  well  as  law  has  its  au- 
thority and  its  sanctions  :  the  one  presides  in  the  Forum,  the  other  in 
the  Cemetery ;  the  one  essays  to  protect  the  rights  of  the  living,  the 
other  the  ashes  of  the  dead.  The  last  resting-place  of  man  is  a  strife- 
less  resting-place.  No  rivalries  agitate  the  bosom,  and  no  alarms  dis- 
turb the  slumbers  of  the  dead.  Even  the  sight  of  the  grave  of  a  fallen 
foe  chanees  resentment  into  reverence,  and  transforms  hatred  into  love. 
The  grave  is  sacred  ;  it  is  inviolate,  even  though  it  be  an  humble  one. 
In  all  ages  and  among  all  nations  it  has  proved  a  defense  to  the  sacred 
deposit  committed  to  its  trust.  The  rude  hand  is  palsied  here.  None 
but  a  wretch  will  violate  the  sanctuary  of  the  grave. 

And  should  it  not  be  so  ? 

Who  has  not  friends  in  the  da!rk  domain  of  the  dead  ?  And  towards 
that  dark  domain  a  resistless  power  is  bearing  us  all  onward.  To  die 
is  the  common  doom.  There  is  no  escape.  Redeemed  dust  must  lie 
imprisoned  its  appointed  time.  But  the  time  of  release  will  come. 
How  long  soever  these  slumbers  shall  continue,  the  earth  and  sea  shall 
ultimately  give  up  the  dead  that  are  in  them ;  then,  0  death,  where 
will  be  thy  sting  ;  0  grave,  where  thy  victory. 

Singing  by  the  Choir,  673d  Hymn,  (Church  Psalmody.) 

' '  Hear  what  the  voice  from  heaven  proclaims 
For  all  the  pious  dead  ! 
Sweet  is  the  savor  of  their  names. 
And  soft  their  sleeping  bed. 

They  die  in  Jesus,  and  are  blest ; 

How  kind  their  slumbers  are  ! 
From  suffering  and  from  sin  released. 

They're  freed  from  every  snare. 

Far  from  this  world  of  toil  and  strife. 

They're  present  with  the  Lord  ; 
The  labors  of  their  mortal  life 

End  in  a  large  reward.*^ 


13 


THIRD  tHA^ISIOX. 

The  procession  then  proceeded  to  the  church,  which  had 
been  appropriately  and  tastefiillj  decked,  by  the  young  la- 
dies, with  wreaths  of  evergreen.  Upon  the  wall  over  the 
})u]pit,  hung  a  banner  encircled  with  a  wreath  of  evergreen, 
bearing  these  inviting  words : 


c^fcBi©^ 


>B 


WELCOME 

Ve    Aged 

.J^nantsi  of  tJtc  pvd. 

WELCOJTIE 

Sons  and  Daughters  of  Suffield  to 
the  Home  of  your  Fathers 


P 


WELCOME 

JTelloto  (TitiKns,  one  anti  all 


■^. 


At  tlie  church  there  were  the  following  exercises : — 
Singing  by  the   Congregation,    654th  Hymn,   (Church 
Psalmody.) 

"  Great  God  I   beneath  •whopo  piercing  eye 
The  earth's  extended  kingdoms  lie  ; 
Whose  favoring  smile  upholds  them  all, 
Whose  anger  smites  them  and  they  foil ; — 

We  bow  before  thy  heavenly  throne  ; 
Thy  jx)wer  we  see — thy  greatness  own  ; 
Yet,  cherished  by  the  milder  voice. 
Our  bosoms  tremble  and  rejoice. 


14 

Thy  kindness  to  our  fathers  shown 
Their  children's  cliildren  long  shall  own  ; 
To  thee,  with  grateful  hearts,  shall  raise 
The  tribute  of  exulting  praise. 

Led  on  by  thine  unerring  aid. 
Secure  the  paths  of  life  we  tread  ; 
And,  freely  as  the  vital  air, 
Thy  first  and  noblest  bounties  share. 

Great  God,  our  guardian,  guide,  and  friend  ! 
Oh  still  thy  sheltering  arm  extend ; 
Preserved  by  thee  for  ages  past. 
For  ages  let  thy  kindness  last !" 

Prayer  by  Rev.  Daniel  Waldo. 

Almighty  and  most  merciful  Father ;  may  our  minds  be  deeply 
solemnized  while  we  celebrate  the  memory  of  thy  long  departed  servant. 
May  we  all  be  imbued  with  the  spirit  that  animated  him ;  and  fulfill 
our  mission  as  he  did,  be  it  longer  or  shorter. 

Give,  we  beseech  thee,  to  all  who  perform  parts  on  this  occasion,  the 
influences  of  thy  Holy  Spirit,  that  the  hearers  may  receive  a  new  un- 
pulse  in  discharging  their  duty  with  greater  fidelity  to  their  Master, 
being  instrumental  in  turning  many  from  darkness  to  light ;  and  that 
we  all  may  receive  the  plaudit  of  the  Judge — Well  done  thou  good 
and  faithful  servant ;  enter  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord.     Amen. 

Then  followed  an  Address  by  Eev.  Aratus  Kent. 

Fellow  Citizens  of  Suffield  : — We  are  assembled  here  this  day 
to  take  note  of  the  flight  of  time,  to  revive  early  friendship,  and  to  call 
up  recollections  of  former  years  before  they  have  escaped  from  our 
grasp. 

One  hundred  and  fifty  years  have  passed  away  since  a  mourning 
church  were  gathered  in  yonder  grave-yard  to  pay  the  last  tribute  of 
respect  to  their  revered  and  aflfectionate  pastor.  I  shall  not  attempt  to 
depict  the  burial  scene,  for  there  is  no  record  left  of  the  transaction. 

Human  life  is  reduced  to  a  brief  period,  and  the  burdened  memory 
of  advanced  years  falters  and  forgets  most  of  the  innumerable  events 
which  have  crowded  along  its  lengthened  pathway,  and  yet  I  can  look 
back  more  than   fifty  years  and  call  to  mind   facts  and  incidents  that 


15 

were  indelibly  written  upon  my  memory.  And  as  "  the  interest  and 
value  of  history  depends  upon  details,"  I  need  no  apology  for  giving 
some  of  ray  personal  recollections. 

It  is  more  than  half  a  century  since  I  used  to  pass  the  house  and 
watch  the  slow  tread  of  old  Captain  Hitcucock,  then  more  than  ninety, 
as  he  walked  out  and  leaning  upon  the  top  of  his  staff,  bent  down  to 
extract  the  last  bunch  of  i\Iay-weed  that  ventured  to  take  root  in  front 
of  his  domicil.  I  remember  the  school-house  which  stood  on  the  Green, 
as  it  was  brilliantly  illuminated,  when  the  choice  of  Jefferson  to  the 
presidency  was  announced  ;  and  I  remember  the  gloomy  forebodings  of 
the  Federalists  on  that  occasion.  I  remember  some  fifty  years  ago 
when  Gideon  Granger,  Postmster-General,  used  to  come  home  from 
Washington  City,  portly,  polite,  and  his  head  powdered  according  to 
the  fashion  of  the  times ;  and  I  remember  the  fact  stated  by  my  father, 
that  he  was  born  on  the  very  site  where  I  was  afterwards  cradled.  I 
have  a  dim  and  hazy  recollection  of  the  Hon.  Oliver  Phelps,  once 
the  proprietor  of  the  mansion  next  south  of  the  Old  Parsonage,  where 
we  were  just  now  convened.  He  was  famous  for  his  agency  in  the  set- 
tlement of  the  Holland  Purchase  and  the  immense  wealth  he  wa.s  sup- 
posed at  that  time  to  possess.  He  removed  to  Canandaigua  in  eighteen 
hundred  and  two.  I  have  a  more  distinct  recollection  of  his  son  Lies- 
CESTER,  and  of  the  humorous  story  told  when  he  went  to  France,  that  if 
he  liked  it,  his  father  would  buy  it  for  him.  I  have  had  a  more  recent 
acquaintance  with  his  grandson.  Judge  Oliver  Phelps,  who  was  con- 
spicuous among  those  who  carved  a  road  for  the  Erie  canal  through  the 
mountain  rock  at  Lockport,  and  it  is  but  five  days  since  in  passing 
through  Canada  I  traveled  with  his  great  grandson,  who  resides  in  the 
province  near  Suspension  Bridge.  He  is  reported  to  be  largely  opulent, 
and  he  certainly  was  largely  gray-headed.  Fifty  years  ago  I  was  a 
school-boy  here,  who  with  my  mates  used  to  race  over  the  play-ground, 
and  fish  in  the  ponds,  and  bathe  in  the  creek ;  and  once  I  recollect  that 
a  bottle  of  spirits  was  in  attendance  :  I  do  not  remember  wliicli  boy  it 
was  that  carried  the  bottle  ;  but  I  do  remember  many  who  liave  been 
slain  by  it ;  and  why  was  not  I  ?  It  is  about  fifty  years  since  I 
looked  into  the  grave  of  a  lad  of  my  own  age,  and  thought  of  death, 
and  the  necessity  of  a  speedy  preparation.  It  is  not  far  from  lialf  a 
century  since,  in  passing  down  the  road  towards  our  pa.sture,  I  met  a 
lad  of  my  age  coming  towards  me,  and  I  went  round  on  the  hill  to 
avoid  him,  for  it  was  reported  that  he  had  become  a  christian,  and  I 
feared  to  encounter  the  young  convert. 


16 

Fifty  years  have  registered  their  changes  on  me.  I  cannot  conceal 
them  if  I  would,  and  I  would  not  if  I  could. 

What  changes  in  my  early  associates  !  Most  of  them  are  dead. 
And  how  altered  the  appearance  of  those  that  still  live  !  Once  young 
and  blithe  as  the  morning  songster,  and  sprightly  as  the  deer,  their 
eyes  sparkled  with  animation.  Their  countenances  were  ruddy  with 
health,  and  their  spirits  were  buoyant  with  hope.  But  old  time  has 
written  decay  upon  their  wrinkled  brow.  Gray  hairs  are  multiplying, 
and  the  next  generation  are  anticipating  their  speedy  removal. 

In  the  town  these  changes  are  everywhere  visible.  It  is  true  some 
things  remain  as  they  were.  Some  houses  are  still  standing,  but  their 
inmates  are  changed.  Some  trees  that  my  neighbor  Loomis  planted 
and  watered  are  still  there  ;  and  I  rejoice  that  he  still  lives  to  enjoy 
their  shade.  May  he  partake  richly  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  life, 
whose  very  leaves  are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations.  And  those  ven- 
erable spreading  elms,  which  I  used  to  admire,  which  hung  so  grace- 
fully over  the  parson's  door,  and  under  whose  shadow  we  this  day  con- 
vened, are  yet  standing  as  monuments  of  the  taste  of  their  proprietors. 

The  old  homestead  (the  present  parsonage)  where  my  parents  toiled 
and  prayed  and  died,  still  remains  very  much  as  it  was.  But  its  pres- 
ent occupants  know  not  Joseph.  Strange  voices  there  greet  my  ears. 
The  furniture  is  changed,  and  the  pictures  that  childish  scrutiny  paint- 
ed on  the  memory  are  gone.  The  old  aunt  has  ceased  to  knit,  and  the 
old  clock  to  tick,  as  they  were  wont  to  do  fifty  years  ago. 

The  brook  still  flows  as  when  I  ran  along  the  banks  and  traced  its 
obliquities  and  dropped  my  fishing  line  into  its  deep  pools  ;  but  the 
brook  seems  smaller,  since  I  have  encountered  so  many  broad  rivers  in 
my  pereginations.  Mount  Tom  still  lifts  its  heavy  head  to  the  specta- 
tor's gaze.  It  was  once  to  me  an  other  name  for  north.  I  remember 
how  pleasantly  the  church  bell  of  Enfield  and  others  responded  to  each 
other  on  the  sabbath  morning  over  the  waters  of  Connecticut  River, 
little  dreaming  then  that  I  should  live  to  witness  Europe  and  America 
ringing  changes  to  each  other  under  the  waters  of  the  ocean. 

So  if  we  take  a  hasty  glance  at  the  state,  the  whole  confederacy,  or 
the  world  at  large,  what  changes  has  half  a  century  wrought  in  society 
and  public  sentiment.  What  improvements  have  obtained  in  hus- 
bandry, in  science  and  in  the  arts. 

My  honored  father  when  he  stood  with  sickle  on  his  shoulder,  his 
hands  resting  on  his  tired  hips,  and  the  perspiration  pouring  off  his 
furrowed  cheeks,  could  not  easily  have  anticipated  that  his  grandson,  a 


17 

lad  of  sixteen  should  with  two  horses  and  a  reaper,  and  without  previ- 
ous experience  or  fatigue,  cut  down  thi-ee  acres  of  heavy  wheat  in  as 
many  hours. 

There  arc  many  before  me  who  remember  the  meavSured  pace  and 
slow  progress  of  Dr.  Pease,  who  in  his  professional  duties  traveled 
constantly  over  this  town  for  half  a  century,  until  his  coming  down  the 
road  was  almost  as  much  a  matter  of  course  as  the  return  of  the  morn- 
ing. Suppose  that  by  some  magic  art,  the  Doctor  could  have  ex- 
changed his  meek  animal  for  the  ii*on  horse — his  plain  vehicle  for  a 
cushioned  and  curtained  rail-car — his  exposures  to  cold  and  storm  for 
a  warm  and  parlor-like  coach,  and  his  three  mile  gait  for  thirty  miles 
an  hour.  Would  not  the  change  have  disturbed  his  equinimity,  and 
would  he  not  have  repeated  with  nervous  agitation  what  he  was  wont  to 
say  with  his  accustomed  pleasantry,  "  There  is  no  use  in  hurrying 
through  the  world."  Dr.  Franklin  would  hardly  have  believed  what 
is  quite  familiar  now,  that  we  in  this  age  should  so  far  tame  uis  fiery 
STEED,  the  lightning,  that  it  should  come  and  go  at  our  bidding — that 
in  place  of  ranging  at  will  among  the  clouds,  he  should  submissively 
follow  our  leading  line  along  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and  should  carry 
messages  quick  as  thought  to  friends  on  the  eastern  continent. 

There  is  however,  no  one  thing  that  more  impressively  reminds  me 
of  the  changes  of  half  a  century  than  to  come  into  your  sanctuary, 
where  I  was  taught  and  trained  to  be  present  every  sabbath,  (and  I 
bless  God  for  such  a  training.)  The  congregation  is  changed,  and 
there  are  but  few  whom  I  know,  and  other  few  whom  I  recognize  by  a 
strong  family  likeness  to  those  with  whom  I  was  once  associated.  The 
fathers  where  are  they,  and  the  prophets  do  they  live  forever.  There 
were  'Squire  Hatheway,  and  'Squire  Leavitt,  and  'Squire  Gay,  Dr. 
Alden  and  Josiah  King  always  at  church  ;  Dea.  Taylor  always  at 
funerals ;  Col.  Kent  with  pitch-pipe  in  hand  always  in  his  place  to 
lead  the  choir.  There  were  Mr.  Fuller,  Seth  King,  Nathaniel 
Rising,  Dea.  Hale  and  Shadrach  Trumbol,  and  many  others.  I 
see  them  no  more.  There  were  many  honorable  women,  Mothers  in 
Israel.  I  name  them  not,  except  Mrs.  Gay,  wife  of  our  pastor.  She 
was  always  in  her  seat.  Their  plcc3S  ai*e  now  vacant,  but  their  record 
is  on  high.  But  not  alone  the  congregation,  the  house  itself  is 
changed.  The  sounding-board  is  taken  down  ;  the  foot-stoves  have  all 
been  laid  aside  ;  and  the  old  square  pews  are  gone.  Tlic  high  pews 
in  the  gallery,  where  I  and  other  lads  were  turned  loose  to  hie  and 
tempt  each  other  to  sin,  are  gone.  There  is  no  safe  place  for  children 
3 


18 

on  the  sabbath  but  by  the  side  of  their  parents.  Dr.  Bacon  says, 
"  The  congregation  ought  to  present  themselves  in  the  house  of  God 
by  families." 

But  it  is  time  to  put  a  check  upon  these  dreams  of  memory  which  I 
have  indulged  in,  not  to  be  egotistic,  but  only  from  a  wish  to  say  some- 
thing for  the  entertainment  of  those  who  have  met  on  this  special  occa- 
sion. T  will  liowever,  allude  to  one  additional  incident  which  belongs 
to  the  list  of  personal  recollections.  It  is  more  than  fifty  years  since  I 
used  to  run  across  the  grave-yard  and  leave  my  little  footrprints  on  the 
broad  and  moss-covered  tablet  of  the  wife  of  that  honored  ancestor 
whose  demise  we  this  day  commemorate.  And  this  will  very  naturally 
introduce  you  to  my  subject  which  is.  The  Inestimable  value  op  an 
Educated  and  Evangelical  Ministry. 

The  Christian  Ministry  aside  from  its  relations  to  our  eternity  is 
vastly  important  for  its  influence  upon  society,  for  it  is  that  mainly 
which  lifts  us  to  an  elevation  such  as  Paganism  never  could  obtain. 
But  educated  minds  will  always  maintain  the  ascendancy,  and  there- 
fore uneducated  clergymen  fail  to  mould  public  sentiment  because  they 
cannot  reach  the  leading  minds. 

But  ministers  may  be  educated  and  yet  fail  of  success  because  they 
are  not  Evangelical,  i.  e.,  they  do  not  embrace  and  teach  those  great 
truths  of  the  Gospel,  and  those  soul-humbling  doctrines  which  the 
spirit  of  God  employs  to  arouse  the  slumbering  conscience,  and  to  turn 
the  heai't's  warm  affections  from  self  aggandisement  to  the  promotion 
of  God's  glory.  Hence,  I  say,  by  way  of  discrimination  that  an  edu- 
cated Evangelical  Ministry  possesses  a  value  that  no  arithmetic  can  es- 
timate, in  its  influence  on  society.  Such  a  Ministry  should  be  highly 
valued  for  the  morality  it  ineulates  and  the  power  it  exerts  to  enforce  it. 

The  Holy  Scriptures  "show  unto  us  the  way  of  salvation,"  but  my 
object  now  is  not  so  mucli  to  treat  of  a  future  state  as  to  prove  that 
they  inculcate  the  only  reliable  morality.  I  say  then  that  every  minis- 
ter who  would  improve  society  by  his  preaching,  must  base  his  instruc- 
tions upon  ilie  great  principles  imbedded  in  iiie  tun  Comnuaidiuonts. 
Human  fingers  never  wrote  out  a  code  of  laws  that  will  compare  with 
that  great  compendium  of  morality  written  on  two  tables  of  stone  by 
the  finger  of  God. 

The  visionary  theories  of  Heathen  Philosophy  as  well  as  the  teach- 
ings of  Free  Thinkers — the  code  of  honor  (a  great  misnomer)  and  all 
.the  infidel  speculations,  have  utterly  failed  to  reform  mankind,  because 


19 

they  have  neither  a  solid  basis  nor  a  divine  sanction.  And  when  these 
worldly  wise  men  attempt  to  put  down  divine  revelation  and  put  forth 
their  own  fancies  in  place  of  it,  they  deserve  no  more  respect  than  the 
vagabond  Jews  obtained  when  the  man  in  whom  the  evil  spirit  wa.s, 
leaped  upon  them  and  evercome  them,  saying,  "  Jesus  I  know,  and 
Paul  I  know,  but  who  are  ye  ?" 

But  the  morality  of  the  Bible  is  adapted  to  man's  nature,  and  ap- 
proved by  his  conscience.  This  is  so  true  that  the  libertine  and  the 
murderer  and  every  other  transgressor  however  reckless  cannot  call  it 
in  question.  While  the  worldling's  morality,  like  Lord  Chesterfield's 
politeness,  is  but  a  silver  coating  to  conceal  the  rottenness  within,  the 
morality  we  commend  assumes  to  regulate  the  heart,  and  erects  her 
censorship  over  the  hidden  motives  and  secret  thoughts. 

Mark  also  the  powkr  they  wield. 

It  may  be  a  matter  of  surprise  to  some,  that  ministers  should  possess 
the  power  to  enforce  a  morality  imposing  such  restraints  upon  the  ap- 
petites and  passions  of  selfish  men — To  a  superficial  observer  it  is  un- 
accountable, that  a  modest  man,  who  like  his  divine  Master  makes  no 
parade  of  his  learning  or  authority,  and  never  puts  himself  forward  but 
as  his  official  duties  push  him  into  public  view — that  such  an  one 
should  be  able  to  recommend  and  establish  a  morality  so  uncongenial 
to  the  taste  and  so  crossing  to  the  habits  of  society. 

Let  us  look  at  this,  and  perhaps  we  may  discover  the  secret  of  their 
power.  It  is  the  power  of  truth  over  error ;  and  this  by  frequent  repeti- 
tion ha.s  gradually  wi'ought  a  settled  conviction  which  silences  theii'  cavils 
if  it  does  not  more,  for  there  are  but  few  men  so  hardened  as  to  be 
willing  to  engage  against  the  convictions  of  their  own  conscience,  and 
however  much  they  may  dislike  its  doctrines  there  are  but  few  who 
care  to  inveigh  against  the  morality  of  the  Bible,  even  when  it  in- 
fringes upon  their  own  conduct. 

The  power  of  the  preacher  is  increased  by  the  fact  that  a  i'oktion  of 
TIME  is  set  apart  for  the  public  exhibition  of  those  truths,  when  a  great 
variety  of  motives  combine  to  induce  people  to  attend  upon  his  instruc- 
tions. Consider  too,  that  his  lectures  are  not  didactic  and  dry,  as  fitted 
only  for  philosophers,  but  delivered  in  j^opular  discourses,  level  to  the 
capacities  of  his  audience,  and  coming  from  a  heart  fully  alive  to  their 
importance.  It  serves  deeply  to  rivet  the  impression  that  they  are  repeat- 
ed every  sabbath  day.  Thus  by  a  constant  attendance  the  hearer  secures 
a  course  of  fifty-two  lectures  in  a  year,  and  although  the  instructions 


20 

are  as  diversified  as  tlie  number  of  the  sal)batlis  and  the  endless  variety 
of  subjects  on  which  he  treats,  yet  in  so  far  as  morality  is  concerned, 
every  sabbath-service  is  but  deepening  the  impression  of  all  the  pre- 
vious lectures. 

You  will  remark  also,  the  authority  with  which  they  are  clothed  for 
the  administration  of  a  wholesome  discipline.  The  Lord  Jesus  is  the 
source  of  all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  and  he  has  delegated  the 
power  of  discipline  to  the  minister  and  his  church.  "  Whatsoever  ye 
shall  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven."  On  this  passage.  Dr. 
Mason  made  this  comment,  "  discipline  is  as  much  a  mean  of  grace  as 
prayer  or  preaching,  and  no  church  can  flourish  where  it  is  neglected." 

The  general  acquaintance  of  the  minister  with  his  people  which  he 
has  acquired  by  pastoral  visitation,  and  the  high  reputation  of  moral 
excellence  which  he  sustains,  serves  to  extend  the  sphere  of  his  influ- 
ence, and  to  enforce  the  teachings  of  the  pulpit.  If  books  are  to  him 
what  tools  are  to  the  mechanic,  it  is  no  less  true  that  character  is  to 
him  what  capital  is  to  the  merchant.  As  the  one  cannot  do  business 
without  a  certain  amount  of  stock  in  trade,  so  the  other  cannot  sway 
the  public  mind,  nor  mould  public  sentiment  on  the  basis  of  scriptural 
morality  if  his  own  reputation  is  tarnished.  But  if  he  is  known  only 
to  be  loved  and  revered,  then  will  he  command  respect  when  he  urges 
truth  and  duty  upon  others. 

Again,  this  unrivaled  moral  power  of  the  pulpit  is  in  no  small  meas- 
ure the  effect  of  those  higher  motives  which  the  preacher  employs. 
Wicked  men  may  be  checked  somewhat  by  pride  of  character,  the  in- 
fluence of  pious  parents,  and  of  an  early  education,  and  the  fear 
of  losing  caste.  But  all  these  motives  are  no  better  than  a  flaxen 
cord  to  bind  a  man  when  exposed  to  the  flames  of  excited  passions. 
It  is  then  that  he  needs  the  restraints  imposed  by  the  fear  of  God,  the 
terrors  of  a  future  retribution,  and  above  all  by  the  constraining  power 
of  Christ's  love.  These  are  the  only  motives  which  will  sustain  that 
elevated  and  rectified  morality  essential  to  refined  and  Christian  so- 
ciety. Finally,  the  power  of  the  Christian  minister  depends  very  much 
upon  his  possessing  the  unction  of  his  subject.  If  bis  most  labored  ef- 
forts are  cold  as  a  moon-beam,  he  will  have  no  power  at  all ;  but  if  he 
is  himself  moved  by  love  and  gi-atitude  to  Glod,  he  will  then  possess 
the  power  to  move  his  audience  as  the  trees  of  the  wood  are  moved  by 
the  wind. 

Now  let   this  analysis  of  the  influence  of  the  ministry  be  gathered 


21 

into  a  brief  synopsis.  The  intrinsic  power  of  truth  ;  the  time  set 
apart  for  the  investigation ;  the  weekly  repetition  of  the  same  great 
principles ;  the  power  of  a  righteous  discipline  ;  the  extensive  act^uaint- 
ance  and  the  high  character  of  the  administrator;  the  far  reaching 
motives  he  employs  ;  the  tender  concern  of  the  pastor,  and  the  soul 
stirring  inspiration  of  his  subject.  Let  all  these  be  combined,  and  the 
influence  of  such  a  preacher  must  be  powerful,  salutary,  and  perma- 
nent. But  if  we  would  do  justice  to  the  subject  we  must  consider  the 
amount  of  labor  he  performs.  His  weekly  preparations  are  a  severe 
tax  upon  his  mental  energies.  The  sabbath  service  exhausts  him  by  its 
crushing  responsibilities,  and  then  he  is  called  to  perform  a  vast  amount 
of  pastoral  duty.  He  solemnizes  weddings.  He  conducts  funerals. 
His  presence  is  anticipated  in  the  sick-room.  His  visits  to  the  afflicted 
are  soothing  as  oil — to  the  mourners  they  are  cheering  as  a  cordial  to 
the  perishing.  He  instructs  the  children.  He  relnikes  the  wayward 
youth,  midway  between  boyhood  and  manhood,  and  persuades  him  to 
submit  patiently  to  parental  restraint ;  while  intemjjerance,  lewdness, 
sabbath  breaking  and  profane  language  are  sure  to  meet  a  timely  re- 
proof at  every  new  development.  And  is  not  such  a  reformer  worthy 
of  patronage  if  there  were  no  other  life  but  this  ?  Such  a  man  we 
may  presume  was  Rev.  Benjamin  Eucglks,  though  I  know  little  of 
him  but  the  honorable  record  of  his  graduation  and  deatli  in  the 
Triennial  Catalogue  of  Harvard  College  ;  and  is  it  any  wonder  that  his 
people  should  weep  when  he  ceases  from  his  work  and  lays  him  down 
to  die.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  those  he  has  trained  to  usefulness 
should  rise  up  and  call  him  blessed,  or  that  unborn  generations  should 
build  anew  his  sepulture.  This  is  in  sweet  accordance  with  that  scrip- 
ture which  we  have  just  now  read  upon  his  tomb-stone,   "  tiik  kigiit- 

EOUS    SHALL     BE     IN     EVERLASTING     REMEMBRANCE  ;"    and      that      Otlior 

scripture,  "  They  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  shall  shine  as   the 
stars  forever  and  ever." 

But  I  nuxst  hasten  my  farewell  to  the  scenes  of  cliildhood  that  I 
loved  so  well.  Farewell  to  the  church  and  the  scliool-house.  Fare- 
well to  this  broad  and  pleasant  common  on  which  I  built  snow-forts  on 
a  winter's  night,  and  ran  races  during  tlio  twilight  of  a  summer's  ev- 
ening. Farewell  to  the  companions  of  my  youth.  Our  last  race  will 
soon  be  run.  It  matters  not  whether  we  meet  again  on  earth,  if 
we  do  but  enter  Paradise  together.  It  matters  not  whether  we  go 
sooner  or  later,  so  that  we  go  the  right  way.     It  matters  little  with  me 


22 

■whether  I  find  a  grave  by  the  side  of  my  parents,  in  the  valley  of  the 
Connecticut  River,  or  by  the  side  of  my  children  in  the  Mississippi 
Valley.  Again  I  say,  farewell  until  we  meet  before  the  great  white 
throne ;  and  it  should  be  a  great  motive  to  hasten  our  preparation  that 
Behold  the  Judge  standeth  at  the  door. 

Singing  by  tlie  Clioir,  lOOtli  Psalm,   3d  part   (Church 
Psalmody.) 

"  Before  Jehovah's  awful  throne. 

Ye  Nations,  bow  with  sacred  joy  ; 
Know  that  the  Lord  is  God  alone  ; 
He  can  create  and  he  destroy. 

His  sovereign  power,  without  our  aid. 

Made  us  of  clay  and  formed  us  men ; 
And  when,  like  wandering  sheep  we  strayed, 

He  brought  us  to  his  fold  again. 

We  are  his  people — we  his  care — 

Our  souls,  and  all  our  mortal  frame  : 

What  lasting  honors  shall  we  rear, 
Almighty  Maker,  to  thy  name  ? 

We'll  crowd  thy  gates,  with  thankful  songs, 
High,  as  the  Heaven,  our  voices  raise  ; 

And  earth,  with  all  her  thousand  tongues, 
Shall  fill  thy  courts  with  sounding  praise. 

Wide — as  the  world — is  thy  command  ; 

Vast — as  eternity — tliy  love  ; 
Firm — as  a  rock — thy  truth  shall  stand. 

When  rolling  years  shall  cease  to  move." 

Historical  Address  by  Henry  A.  Sykes,  A.  M. 


ADDRESS. 


Mr.  President,  Friends,  and  Fellow  Citizens  : 

Living,  as  we  do,  at  the  close  of  a  cycle  of  time, 
reminding  us  of  one  who,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  was 
appointed  to  be  a  prominent  instrument  in  establishing 
the  privileges  and  ordinances  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ 
among  our  ancestors ;  and,  assembled  as  we  are,  to  com- 
memorate the  close  of  his  pastoral  labors,  and  his  departure 
to  his  reward  ;  it  is  well  to  recall  to  mind  transactions  of 
the  past,  and  trace  the  dealings  of  God  with  those  who 
have  gone  before  us,  whose  places  we  now  occupy,  whom 
we  must  soon  follow,  and  render  account  of  the  manner  in 
which  we  improve  the  privileges  transmitted  to  us. 

The  study  of  Divine  Providence  as  revealed  in  the  his- 
tory of  man,  either  in  his  individual,  social,  or  qivil  rela- 
tions, Is  ii  duty  replete  with  interest  and  profit  to  all  who 
bring  to  it  hearts  purified  from  that  morbid  spirit  of  self- 
love,  which,  in  its  own  estimation,  can  derive  good  only 
from  that  which  in  its  earth-born  wisdom,  it  conceives  to 
be  calculated  to  promote  its  own  narrow  purposes  of  self- 
aggrandizement. 


24 

Says  Bisliop  Meade,*  "It  is  a  useful  employment  for 
societies,  as  well  as  individuals,  to  look  back  throngli  tkeir 
past  Instoiy,  and  mark  tlie  dealings  of  a  kind  Providence 
towards  tkem."  Anotlier  writerf  remarks  that  "  The  ways 
of  Pro\adence  are  the  noblest  study  of  man."  And  when 
the  inspired  Lawgiver  of  God's  chosen  people,  in  the  last 
solemn,  closing  scene  of  his  commission,  addresses  them  in 
language  like  this :  "  Remember  the  days  of  old,  consider 
the  years  of  many  generations ;  ask  thy  father,  and  he  will 
shew  thee  ;  thy  elders  and  they  will  tell  thee/'|  Does  it 
not  become  us — is  it  not  wise  for  us — to  consider  our  past 
history,  to  mark  the  dealings  of  God  in  his  Providence 
w^ith  us,  as  individuals,  as  families,  and  as  a  community  ? 
'Naj  ! — it  is  folly,  it  is  ingratitude,  a  sin  of  a  deep  and  dark 
dye,  to  neglect  to  do  it,  yet,  how^  often  do  we  hear  remarks 
of  a  contemptuous  nature,  respecting  an  inquiry,  or  a 
knowledge  of  Avhat  lias  occurred  in  past  time  in  a  commu- 
nity like  ours.  Such  things,  in  the  minds  of  some,  seem  to 
be,  in  their  estimation,  beneath  their  dignity,  and  as  of  too 
small  consequence  to  merit  their  notice.  They  can  in- 
quire, perhaps,  respecting  the  doings  of  statesmen  and  war- 
riors ;  can  read  and  discuss  the  price  current  of  stocks, 
merchandise,  produce,  horses  &c.  They  can  tell  you  of  the 
pedigree  of  this  or  that  man's  cattle  and  sheep ;  and  of 
the  number  and  quality  of  their  acres  of  land ; — and  per- 
haps they  may  tell  you  the  address  to  some  gift  enterj)rise, 
where  you  may  invest  a  dollar  and  obtain  Robinson  Cru- 

*  Old  Churches  and  Families  of  Virginia,     f  Rev.  Geo.  Croly.     J  Deut.  xxxii,  7, 


25 

soe,  or  a  beautiful  gilt  annual,  and  even  a  Bible, — and  O  ! 
such  prizes  of  nice  jewelry. 

Another  class  have  such  piety  they  can  find  no  time  to 
inquire  of  the  years  of  the  past;  they  are  so  zealous  in  do- 
ing God  service,  they  cannot  obey  his  precepts.  They  will 
hold  uj)  their  hands  in  wondrous  admiration  of  the  lessons 
of  wisdom  drawn  by  others  from  such  researches,  but  they 
themselves  must  be  engaged  in  more  important  business. 
All  these  people  are  in  the  habit  of  declaring,  with  an  air 
of  self-complacency,  that  they  neither  know  nor  care  what 
was  transacted  in  the  community,  nor  by  whom  it  was 
done  a  hundred  years  ago.  Perhaps  they  will  give  you 
the  intelligence  that  they  hardly  know  \\^liat  was  the  name 
of  their  grandfather.  Can  it  be  said  of  such,  that  they 
"remember  the  days  of  old,"  and  "consider  the  years  of 
many  generations?"  Can  it  be  said  of  them  that  they 
obey  the  Divine  command  ?  which  says :  "  Honor  thy  fath- 
er and  thy  mother,  that  thy  days  may  be  long  in  the  land 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee."  Are  they  like  their 
Heavenly  Father  ?  of  whom  we  are  taught  that  not  even  a 
sparrow  falls  to  the  ground  without  his  notice  ? 

The  individual  who  enters  upon  the  stage  of  active  life, 
without  some  knowledge  of  what  has  transpired  in  time 
that  has  passed,  especially  in  his  own  country,  is  but  poor- 
ly prepared  to  act  his  part  in  the  duties  of  a  citizen  of  an 
enlightened  community.  Indeed,  such  an  one  cannot  ap 
predate  and  enjoy  the  high  privileges  and  advantages 
which  a  position,  in  such  a  community,  is  calculated  to 
4 


26 

impart,  to  one  fitted  for  it.  He  occupies,  as  it  were  au 
isolated  position  in  the  midst  of  his  compeers.  He  may 
be  compared  to  an  islet  standing  in  the  midst  of  rushing 
rapids,  alone  and  inaccessible  to  the  improvements  and 
beauties  of  the  surrounding  landscape :  remaining 
"  Alike  unknowing  and  unknown."* 
But  history,  as  presented  by  its  writers,  too  often  gives 
an  account  only  of  rulers,  statesmen  and  generals ;  while 
the  people  are  practically  considered  as  mere  vassals,  and 
slaves,  unworthy  of  any  particular  attention,  otherwise 
than  as  instruments  which  have  been  used  for  accomplish- 
ing the  ambitious  purposes  of  those  whom  the  world  call 
great.  Their  joys  and  sorrows,  their  hopes  and  fears,  their 
trials  and  sufferings,  are  not  considered  worth  the  trouble 
of  commemorating  on  its  page.  Yet  he  that  would  study 
Divine  Providence,  as  revealed  in  the  histoiy  of  man, 
should  not  confine  his  research  merely  to  the  doings  of 
rulers,  the  debates  of  statesmen,  nor  the  devastations  of 
generals ;  but  should  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  do- 
ings of  the  people,  in  their  more  private  walks.  He  should 
inquire  into  their  moral  character  and  learn  the  motives 
by  which  they  were  influenced,  in  doing  as  they  did.  He 
should,  if  possible,  make  himself  familiar  with  the  springs 
of  action  which  have  been  the  motive  power  that  has  ac- 
complished whatever  may  have  been  done  among  them. 
Unless  he  does  this,  he  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  deriving 
advantage    from    his    studies.      He    may    indeed   amuse 

«  Watts. 


27 

himself  witli  accounts  of  the  overthrow  of  states  and  em- 
pires, the  intrigues  of  legislators,  and  the  death  of  kings  ; 
— he  may  revel  in  the  detail  of  the  strange  work  of  battles, 
where  men  have  destroyed  their  fellow  men,  where, 

' '  By  torch  and  trumpet  fast  array 'd, 
Each  horseman  drew  his  battle  blade, 
And  furious  every  charger  neigh'd 
To  join  the  dreadful  revelry."* 

But  he  will  fail  to  lay  up  those  rich  stores  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  man  which  he  might  derive  from  an  acquaintance 
Avith  the  character,  feelings,  motives  and  actions  of  those 
who  have  lived  before  him  in  the  humble  walks  of  pri- 
vate life. 

True  indeed,  it  may  be  difficult  to  gather  up  the  infor- 
mation derived  from  the  oblivion  of  the  past ;  so  true  is  it 
that  man  lives  and  dies,  and  the  places  that  knew  him, 
know  him  no  more  forever.  In  a  very  short  time,  the 
transactions  of  a  private  individual  pass  from  the  recollec- 
tion of  a  community  in  which  he  may  have  lived,  and  are, 
as  relates  to  this  world, — except  in  their  effects, — forever 
lost.  And  what  is  true  of  an  individual,  is  also  true,  in 
the  ordinary  course  of  events,  of  communities,  so  far  as  re- 
gards the  transactions  of  private  life.  Yet  it  cannot  be 
said  that  the  life  of  any  individual,  however  obscure,  has 
had  no  effect,  either  for  good  or  for  evil,  on  the  community 
of  which  he  may  have  formed  a  part. 

In  reviewing  the  history  of  this  town,  we  are  met  at 

*  Campbell's  "  Hohenlinden." 


28 

have  access  to  public  records  and  documents,  from  which 
we  learn  when,  and  by  whom,  its  settlement  was  com- 
the  outset  with  the  difficulty  just  referred  to.  True,  we 
menced  and  accomplished.  But  the  means  of  learning 
their  character  and  motives  of  action,  their  trials  and  suf- 
ferings in  the  accomplishment  of  their  purposes,  are  very 

limited. 

The  last  half  century,    in    passing,    has  carried  with  it 

many  a  living  oracle  who  might  have  been  consulted,  and 
many  an  interesting  incident  to  enlighten  us  on  this  point, 
have  been  saved  from  oblivion.  But  they  are  gone  !  and 
it  now  remains  for  us  to  rescue  what  may  yet  be  found. 
Should  the  present  brief  review  of  our  history  stimulate  to 
more  diligent  and  combined  action  toward  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this,  we  believe  our  efforts  of  this  day  will  not 
have  been  made  in  vain. 

In  detailing  the  history  of  Suffield,  there  are  no  accounts 
to  give  of  hair  breadth  escapes  from  ruthless  foes,  nor  of 
battle  fields  drenched  in  blood,  by  which  to  awaken  an  in- 
terest in  the  hearts  of  those  whose  attention  can  be  arrest- 
ed only  by  the  thrilling  scenes  of  war  and  its  attendant 
horrors  ; — we  have  no  fields  whose  story  tells  of — 

" Sounds  that  mingled  laugh, — and  shout, — and  scream, — 

To  freeze  the  blood,  in  one  discordant  jar, 
Rung  to  the  pealing  thunderbolts  of  war," 

Nor  have  we  legends  telling — 

"  Where  human  fiends,  on  midnight  errands  walk'd. 
And  bath'd  in  brains  the  murderous  tomahawk."* 

*  Campbell. 


29 

Our  history  relates  the  more  common  occurrences  of  or- 

dinaiy  hfe,  where,  in  the  peaceful  pursuits  of  iudustiy,  our 

ancestors  have  subdued  the  sturdy  forest  that  once  covered 

this  domain,  and  transmitted  to  us  their  successors,  the 

rich  inheritance  of  beautiful  landscape  and  fi'uitful  fields, 

together  with  the  civil  and  religious  privileges  which  we 

are  permitted  by  an  overruling  Providence  to  enjoy  at  this 

day. 

"The  farmer  here,  with  honest  pleasure,  sees 
The  orchards  bhishing  to  the  fervid  breeze  ; 
The  ripening  fields,  for  joyous  harvest  drest, 
And  the  white  spire  that  points  a  world  of  rest." 

In  a  very  short  time  after  our  fathers  had  commenced 
their  settlements  around  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  their  at- 
tention was  turned  toward  the  valley  of  the  Quonnecticut. 
Within  sixteen  years  from  the  arrival  of  the  ^Slay  Flower 
in  Plymouth  harbor.  Hooker,  Wareham,  and  Pynchon, 
with  their  worthy  associates  and  compeers,  had  become 
the  pioneers  of  Wethersfield,  Hartford,  Windsor  and 
Springfield.  Yet  although  geographically  located  in  the 
midst  of  those  towns,  and  the  route  of  communication 
passed  through  this  territory,  Stony-brook,  as  it  was  then 
called,  remained  a  wild  unbroken  forest,  for  half  a  centuiy 
after  the  landins;  of  the  Pilgrims  on  Plvmouth  Rock. 

To  a  casual  observer  it  may  appear  somewhat  singular, 
that  so  fertile  and  beautiful  a  region  as  this  now  is,  should 
have  been  so  long  passed  by  and  neglected  ;  and  probably 
it  will  appear  still  more  strange,  when  informed  that  its 


30 

fertility,  and  what  now  contributes  to  its  attractions  and 
beauty  were  the  ver}^  causes  of  its  neglect  at  that  day. 

Geologically  considered,  Sufiield  is  found  to  be  situ- 
ated on  an  elevation  of  sand-stone  which  divides  the  lower 
valley  of  the  Connecticut  into  an  upper  and  lower  basin. 
This  elevation,  forming  those  beautiful  undulations  so 
characteristic  of  its  surface,  and  impinging  upon  the  river, 
deprive  it  of  the  alluvial  interval  lands  which  form  an  inter- 
esting feature  in  those  towns,  and  which  being  compara- 
tively easily  subdued  and  cultivated,  were,  no  doubt,  the 
objects  of  attraction  to  the  early  settlers  in  this  valley. 
But  the  hills  and  dales  of  this  town  were  overlaid  with  a 
rich,  tenacious  and  retentive  soil,  producing  a  dense  and 
heavy  forest,  thus  rendering  it,  as  our  ancestors  emphati- 
cally expressed  it,  "a  very  woody  place,  and  difficult  to 
winne." 

It  may  perhaps  be  interesting  to  take  a  brief  retrospec- 
tive view  of  this  region,  and  endeavor  to  picture  to  our 
minds  its  aspect  at  that  day.  Entering  near  its  north-east 
corner,  from  the  borders  of  Springfield,  we  find  a  lonely 
pathway  winding  along  through  the  forest,  following  the 
summit  of  the  ridges  of  high  ground  that  it  may  avoid 
the  dark  and  miry  swamps  intervening,  as  it  passes  in  a 
south-westerly  direction  until  it  reaches  the  spot  which,  at 
a  later  day,  was  called  Meeting-house  Hill.  Thence,  in  a 
more  southern  course,  to  Stony-brook,  which  it  crosses,  it 
continues  onward  till  it  enters  upon  Windsor  Plain.  This 
was  the  Springfield  road,  and  is  substantially  the  route 


31 

now  followed  in  passing  tlirougli  Crooked-Lane,  Higli  and 
South  Streets.    Again  returning  to  the  place  w^here  we  firet 
set  out,  we  find  another  pathway  diverging  to  the  left  of  the 
first,  and  passing  east  of  the  hill  in  that  corner  of  the  town, 
following  near  or  upon  the  bank  of  the  river,  until  it  comes 
to  the  place  now  known  as  the  Old  Ferry  Landing, — thence 
turning  to  the  right,  and  continuing  in  a  westerly  direction 
till  it  intersects  with  the  first,  in  the  southern  part  of  what 
is  now  called  Crooked  Lane, — and  we  have  traced  another 
branch  of  the  Springfield  road,  a  part  of  which  has  long 
been  disused  and  forgotten.     Going  now  to  the  north-west- 
erly part  of  that   portion  of  tlie  town  lying  east  of  the 
mountain,    we   find  another    }»athway  coming    from    tlie 
north,  and  passing  southerly  ovei-  the  hill  where  the  First 
Baptist  meeting  house  now  stands,  thence  onward  over 
and  west  of  Muddy-Brook  to  Stony-Brook,  and  soon  after 
crossing  it,  intersecting  the  Springfield    road,    near    the 
north  end  of  what  is    now  South  Street.     This  was  the 
Northampton  road,  and  through  these  pathways  was  the  in- 
tercourse between  the  upper  and  lower  towns,  carried  on 
upon  this  side  of  the  river.     Passing  along  these  pathways, 
we  are  every  where  suri'oundcd  by  a  dark  and  heavy  for- 
est.    The  sturdy  oak  and  majestic  elm   reach  their  strong 
arms  high  over  our  heads,   while  the  deep  foliage  of  the 
maple  and  its  kindred  trees  shut  out  the  genial  rays  of  the 
sun,  and  enclose  us  beneath  their  umbrage.    As  we  ascend 
some  of  the   higher  points  of   ground,  we  may  perhaps 
through  the  interstices    of  the  forest  catch  a  glim]>se  of 


32 

some  lofty  pine  as  it  sighs  to  the  breeze.  Looking  down 
the  gentle  slopes  of  the  hill  sides  toward  the  lower  grounds, 
our  vision  is  intercepted  by  a  chaos,  composed  of  the 
ruins  of  more  primeval  trees  which  have  been  laid  pros- 
trate by  the  storms  of  past  ages  and  now  are  mouldering 
beneath  the  dank  herbage  of  the  forest,  which  draws  its 
sustenance  from  their  decay.  Go  now  to  those  low 
grounds  ;  enveloped  in  a  labyrinth  of  murky  shrubbery, 
and  sinking  in  the  miry  soil,  you  will  soon  be  glad  to  beat 
a  retreat  to  a  more  genial  region. 

Such  was  Suffield  two  centuries  ago.  But  a  change  was 
to  come.  Pampunkshat  and  Mishnoasqus  with  their  tawny 
associates,  were  destined  by  an  overruling  Providence,  to 
give  place  to  the  white  man ; — the  dark  forest  to  the  culti- 
vated fields ;  and  the  sighing  of  the  pine,  to  the  voices  of 
rural  life  and  the  song  of  praise  from  human  lips  in  the 
house  of  God. 

About  that  period,  Capt,  John  Pynchon  of  Springfield, 
in  behalf  of  the  people,  purchased  of  the  Indians  Pam- 
punkshat and  Mishnoasqus — alias  Margery — those  districts 
called  by  them,  Lacowsic,  Squotuc,  Mayawaug,  Wecups, 
Ashawalas  and  Wonococomaug.*  These  were  embraced 
in  what  was  by  the  English  called  Stony-brook.  The  con- 
sideration paid  them  "to  their  satisfaction,"  was  thirty 
pounds  sterling  (about  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars),  which 
was,  most  likely,  really  a  gratuity,  the  lands  for  all  practi- 
cal purposes  probably,  being  of  as  much  service  to  them 

*  Pynchon's  deed  to  proprietors  of  Suffield. 


33 

after,  as  before  their  relinquishment  of  title  to  them.  But 
thus  quietly  and  peacably  was  their  title  legally  extin- 
guished, and  the  red  man — he  is  gone  !  Peace  to  his 
ashes.  No  collision  causing  the  shedding  of  blood,  either 
of  the  white,  or  the  red  man  on  the  soil  of  Suffield,  is 
known  to  have  taken  place ;  though  fears  of  such  a 
catastrophe  were  sometimes  entertained,  particularly  in 
the  time  of  Philip's  war  in  1675. 

In  the  winter  of  1669  -  70,  Samuel  and  Joseph  Har- 
mon, having  perhaps  previously  noted  the  tract  of  land 
lying  west  of  the  Northampton  road,  near  the  present  cen- 
ter of  the  town,  with  some  others,  petitioned  the  select- 
men of  Springfield  for  grants  of  land  at  Stony-Brook,* 
which  were  conditionally  given  them.  It  is  supposed  that 
the  Harmons  came  here  the  next  ensuing  summer,  and 
that  to  them  must  be  given  the  honor  of  being  the  pi- 
oneers of  the  town.  None  of  the  other  persons  who  had 
grants  from  the  authority  of  Springfield,  ever  settled  here. 
A  petition  for  a  grant  of  a  plantation,  or  a  township,  at 
Stony-Brook,  was  presented  to  the  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts Colony  at  their  session,  held  at  Boston,  May  1670 ; 
and  some  action  was  taken  respecting  it  at  that  time.  At 
their  next  session,  held  October  12,  the  same  year,  the 
Court  passed  an  act  or  grant,  authorizing  the  settlement 
of  a  township  at  this  place,  defining  its  extent,  limiting  the 
amount  of  individual  grants,  requiring  the  maintenance  of 

*  Springfield  Town  Records, 


34 

a  Gospel  Ministry,  with  some  other  minor  details,  and  ap- 
pointing a  committee  of  six  persons  to  grant  lands  to  set- 
tlers, and  conduct  the  public  aiFairs  of  the  plantation. 
The  persons  comprising  this  committee  were,  Capt.  John 
Pynchon,  Capt.  Elizur  Holyoke,  Lieutenant  Thomas 
Cooper,  Quartermaster  George  Colton,  Ensign  Benjamin 
CooLEY,  and  Rowland  Thomas.* 

This  committee  met  for  the  first  time  in  their  official  ca- 
pacity, January  12,  1670-1,  and  drew  up  an  Instru- 
ment, by  which  they  were  to  be  governed  in  attending  to 
the  duties  of  their  commission.!  At  this  time  it  was  de- 
termined to  settle  eighty  families  in  the  place.  After- 
wards the  number  was  increased  to  one  hundred.  During 
the  year  1671,  lands  were  granted  to  nine  persons  who  be- 
came settlers  here.  In  May  of  this  year,  the  committee 
determined  that  there  should  be  a  division  of  allotments 
or  grants  west  of  the  Northampton  road  ;  another,  com- 
prising two  ranges  of  lots  upon  the  central  street  which 
they  named  High  Street ;  and  a  third  division  of  a  single 
range,  on  the  west  side  of  Feather  Street,  having  the 
ground  in  front,  between  the  street  and  the  river,  for  a 
common.  They  afterward  made  divisions  on  South 
Street,  Crooked  Lane,  and  at  the  river  near  the  Ferry. 
The  streets  between  the  divisions  were  laid  out  from  six- 
teen to  twenty  rods  wide,  and  those  passing  across  the 
divisions   from  east  to  west,  were  from  eight  to  twelve 

*  Massachusetts  Colonial  Records.  t  Suffield  Town  Records. 


35 

rods  wide.  WTiere  are  those  broad  streets  now  ?  The 
spirit  of  enterprise  for  straightning  them,  which  has  been 
indulged  for  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years,  will,  if  contin- 
ued, give  to  future  generations,  streets  like  those  of  orien- 
tal cities,  so  strait  that  a  loaded  mule  may-  sweep  both 
sides  at  once. 

In  1672  the  committee  set  out  the  ground  for  the 
meeting-house  and  for  a  public  common.  This  was  some 
forty  rods  wide.  They  also  at  the  same  time  set  apart 
a  ministry  grant,  and  an  allotment  for  the  first  minister 
that  should  settle  in  the  place.  This  was  at  a  subsequent 
period  given  to  Mr.  John  Younglove.  During  the  year 
1672  no  additions  were  made  to  the  number  of  grantees. 
In  the  winter  following,  some  alterations  were  made 
in  the  terms  or  tenure  of  Grants,  more  favorable  to  set- 
tlers. In  1673  it  was  determined  that  four  pence  per  acre 
should  be  paid  by  grantees  for  their  first  grants  to  remu- 
nerate Mr.  Pynchon  his  expenses  on  extinguishing  the  In- 
dian title.  Nine  grants  were  made  this  year ;  two  of  them 
were  to  Mr.  Pynchon — one  in  consideration  of  his  having 
built  a  saw-mill  in  the  place,  and  the  other  to  him  as  peti- 
tioner at  the  General  Court  for  the  plantation.  The  saw- 
mill was  built  upon  Stony-Brook  in  the  \icinity  of  the 
great  river. 

In  1674  the  plantation  was  named  Suffield,  an  abbrevia- 
tion of  Southfield.*     At  the  same  time  the  General  Court 

*  Massachusetts  Colonial  Records,  Vol.  V. 


36 

confirmed  the  bounds  of  tlie  plantation  according  with  a 
survey,  extending  six  miles  from  north  to  south,  and  seven 
and  a  half  miles  from  the  river  west.  It  was  at  this  time 
that  the  Court  were  petitioned  to  grant  this  plantation 
seven  years  freedom  from  country  rates  it  being  "  a  very 
woody  place  and  difficult  to  winne."  Four  years  abate- 
ment were  granted.  Twenty  grants  of  land  were  made 
during  the  year,  one,  together  with  the  privileges  of 
Stony  and  Muddy  Brooks  to  Mr.  Pynchon  in  consideration 
of  his  having  built  a  "  Corne  Mill."* 

The  war  with  the  Indians,  commonly  called  Philip's 
War,  breaking  out  in  1675,  the  settlement  was  temporary ly 
broken  up,  and  the  inhabitants  sought  places  of  supposed 
greater  security.  At  this  time  some  thirty-five  families 
were  settled  or  about  to  settle  here  ;  and  after  the  war  was 
closed  some  thirty  of  them  returned  to  the  place  and  re- 
sumed their  residence  here.  No  grants  were  made  for 
nearly  two  and  a  half  years,  but  in  1677,  settlers  again  be- 
gan to  come  in,  and  during  that  year,  thirteen  new  names 
appear  as  grantees  in  the  place.  It  was  determined  in 
view  of  the  experience  of  the  late  war  with  the  Indians,  to 
settle  more  compact  than  had  hitherto  been  done,  and  the 
Harmons  and  others  from  the  west  division  were  accom- 
modated with  house-lots  on  High  Street.  Twelve  new  in- 
habitants appeared  in  1678  :  five  of  them  settled  by  the 
river,  near  where  the  Ferry  now  is,  between  Suffield  and 
Thompsonville. 

♦  Suffield  Town  Records. 


37 

In  1679  fourteen  allotments  were  granted,  five  of  them 
were  to  sons  of  previous  settlers,  and  one  was  to  Mr.  John 
Younglove,  who  had  been  invited  to  come  and  settle  here 
in  the  ministry.  The  homestead  pertaining  to  Mr. 
Younglove's  grant,  containing  thirty  acres,  was  land  now 
owned  and  occupied  by  the  second  Baptist  Society.  lio- 
vember  17th  of  that  year,  the  inhabitants  met  and  voted 
to  build  a  house  for  Mr.  Younglove,  forty  feet  long  by 
twent}'  feet  wide  and  ten  feet  high.  It  is  probable  that 
this  house  was  built  near  the  ground  where  the  second 
Baptist  meeting-house  now  stands. 

In  1680,  nineteen  persons  had  grants  of  allotments,  nine 
of  them  north  of  High  Street,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Springfield  road,  and  another  portion  of  them  were  the 
next  summer  located  in  the  \dcinity  of  the  sawmill,  south 
of  it,  on  the  continuation  of  Feather  Street. 

In  1681,  the  committee  made  six  allotments  to  individ- 
uals, and  one  for  school  purposes.  Their  last  official  meet- 
ing previous  to  their  resignation,  was  held  Januar}-  2, 
1681-2.  At  this  meeting  they  made  sundry  grants  of 
land  to  individual  settlers  increasing  their  previous  grants, 
or  special  allotments  for  their  sons  ;  also  to  several  other 
persons  who  never  settled  here.  Having  at  a  previous  pe- 
riod set  apart  four  hundred  acres  of  land  for  a  compensa- 
tion for  their  services,  they  at  this  time  reduced  the  appro- 
priation to  three  hundred  acres,  dividing  it  into  specified 
grants  to  each  of  the  survivors  of  the  committee,  and 
to  the  heirs  of  those  deceased.     Lieut.    Thomas   Cooper 


38 

one  of  the  committee  was  slain  by  the  Indians,  October  5, 
1675,  the  day  they  burnt  Springfiekl ;  and  Capt.  EHzur 
Holyoke  died  February  6,  1675-6.* 

These  first  grants  consisted  of  allotments  (as  they  were 
termed)  of  land  of  from  forty,  fifty,  sixty,  or  eighty  acres, 
according  to  the  rank  or  condition  of  the  grantees.  One 
acre  of  meadow  or  good  swamp  land  to  ten  acres  of  up- 
land were  allowed  in  addition  to  each  man's  grant.  These 
were  then  considered  the  choice  land  of  the  township,  the 
scarcity  of  which  made  the  place,  proverbially,  "poor 
Stony-Brook."  These  grantees,  their  heirs  and  assigns, 
became,  by  virtue  of  these  grants,  the  proprietors  of  the 
entire  township,  and  the  residue  of  the  lands  were,  at  a 
later  period,  from  time  to  time,  distributed  among  them. 

On  the  ninth  of  March,  1681  -  2,  a  general  town  meeting 
was  convened  in  accordance  with  an  order  of  the  General 
Court  passed  at  their  session,  held  October  12,  1681,  to 
organize  the  town,  make  choice  of  municipal  ofiicers,  and 
discharge  the  committee,  they  being  present.  At  this 
meeting,  the  first  board  of  selectmen  in  Sufi[ield,  was 
chosen.  The  members  of  it  were  :  Lieut.  Anthony  Aus- 
tin, Sergeant  Samuel  Kent,  Thomas  Remington,  senior, 
and  Joseph  Harmon. 

Lieut.  Austin  was  chosen  Town  Clerk.  He  was  after- 
ward annually  re-elected  to  this  ofiice  till  his  death,  Au- 
gust 22,  1708,  with  the  exception  of  the  year  1688,  when 
he  was  chosen  Commissioner.     He  was  the  first  who  is 

*  Springfield  Records. 


39 

known  to  liave  tauglit  a  [)ul)lic  scliool  in  this  town.  A 
liumble  monument  remains  to  mark  the  place  of  his  sepul- 
ture. Long  may  it  be  cherished  with  respect,  as  sacred  to 
the  memory  of  one  who  appears  to  have  been  honored  by 
his  compeers  of  that  day. 

From  the  first  organization  of  the  town  to  the  present 
time,  there  has  been  a  regular  annual  succession  of  muni- 
cipal officers  elected  to  conduct  its  prudential  and  civil  af- 
fairs. The  original  grant  for  the  }>lantation  specified  its 
limits  to  be  six  miles  square  ;  but  upon  surveying  the 
boundaries,  it  was  found  that  Westfield  extended  into  the 
north-west  part  of  this  territory ;  and  to  remedy  this  the 
northern  line,  after  bending  to  the  southern  extremity  of 
Westfield,  was,  together  with  the  southern  line,  extended 
west  from  the  river  seven  and  one  half  miles. 

In  a  few  years,  conflicting  claims  arose  between  Suifield 
on  the  one  part,  and  Windsor  and  Simsbury  on  the  other, 
with  respect  to  the  southern  line  of  this  town.  This  conten- 
tion was  carried  on  with  a  considerable  degree  of  acrimo- 
ny. In  the  mean  time  it  was  discovered  that  Suftield  lay 
within  the  chartered  limits  of  Connecticut,  and  thence 
arose  a  matter  for  adjustment  between  the  colonies  of 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut.  In  1711  coniniissi()iiei*s 
were  appointed  by  the  two  colonies  for  that  purpose.  In 
consideration  of  the  town  of  tSufiield,  together  with  Enfield 
and  Woodstock,  having  been  settled  under  Massachusetts 
authority,  they  were  continued  under  tlie  jnrisdiction  of 
that  colony,  an  equivalent  of  an  equal  amount  of  wild 


40 

lauds  being  granted  to  Connecticut.  These  lands  were 
mainly  comprised  within  the  present  towns  of  Belcher- 
town  and  Pelham  in  Massachusetts.  They  were  sold  by 
Connecticut  in  1727  and  the  avails  bestowed  toward  the 
endowment  of  Yale  College.  The  commissioners  allowed 
the  claim  of  Simsbury,  thus  dismembering  the  southwest 
corner  of  this  town.  The  proprietors  of  Suffield  believing 
they  had  been  wronged  by  this  decision,  soon  began  to 
call  upon  the  General  Court  for  redress,  and  persevered  in 
presenting  their  claim  until  1732,  when  a  tract  of  land  six 
miles  square  was  granted  them,  as  an  equivalent.  This 
tract  comprised  a  large  portion  of  the  present  town  of 
Blandford  in  Massachusetts.  It  was  sold  by  the  proprie- 
tors of  Suffield  in  1735  to  Christopher  Jacob  Lawton,  a 
son  of  John  Lawton,  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  this  town. 
IS^otwithstanding  Suffield  had  been  settled  under  the  ju- 
risdiction of  Massachusetts,  the  inhabitants  do  not  appear 
to  have  been  satisfied  with  the  decision  which  continued 
them  there.  As  early  as  1720,  they  voted  to  adopt  meas- 
ures to  come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Connecticut,  and 
with  the  towns  of  Enfield,  Somers,  and  Woodstock,  contin- 
ued their  exertions  from  time  to  time  until  it  was  effected 
in  1749,  This  has  been  called  the  revolt  of  the  Massachu- 
setts towns  in  Connecticut.  A  late  writer  of  the  history  of 
Western  Massachusetts  has  stated  that  these  towns  had  re- 
mained contented  under  the  Massachusetts  government, 
until  the  peace  of  Aix  la  Chapelle  in  1748  found  Massa- 
chusetts burdened  with  taxes  and  a  large  debt,  while  Con- 


41 

iiecticut  was  comparatively  easy  in  tliese  respects,  and 
ascribes  this  as  the  motive  of  tlieir  "revolt."  Had  he  ex- 
amined our  records  he  must  have  been  convinced  that  it 
was  a  powerful  cause  indeed  which  could  have  influenced 
a  community  to  such  an  extent,  as  to  awaken  them  to 
take  measures  to  escape  its  consequences  some  thirty  years 
previous  to  its  existence !  It  must  at  least,  be  conceded 
that  the  people  of  this  town,  at  that  day,  possessed  an  un- 
usual degree  of  foresight.  But  when  we  consider  the  dif- 
ference of  civil  rights  and  pri\aleges  enjoyed  by  the  two 
colonies,  together  with  the  local  position  of  those  towns, 
we  believe  we  have  a  more  substantial  motive  for  their  ac- 
tion than  the  taxes  even  of  Massachusetts. 

It  has  been  observed  that  the  committee  set  apart  an 
allotment  of  land  for  school  purposes  at  an  early  day  ;  but 
it  does  not  appear  that  anything  further  was  done  toward 
establishing  such  a  pri^^lege,  until  the  organization  of  the 
town,  when  it  was  voted  to  invite  a  Mr.  Trowbridge  to 
teach  school  in  Suffield,  and  to  allow  him  ten  pounds 
per  annum  for  five  years,  besides  the  legal  allowance  from 
the  scholars.  There  is  no  evidence  that  he  came  liere, 
nor  that  anything  further  was  done  to  establish  a  iniblic 
school,  until  August,  1693,  when  they  voted  "•  to  use  their  ut- 
most endeavour  to  procure  a  schoolmaster  to  teach  children 
and  youth  to  read,  write  and  cypher."  In  Januaiy, 
1693-4  it  was  "voted  to  set  up  a  free  school  for  the  edu- 
cation of  children  and  youth,"  and  that  "ye  school  be 
6 


42 

kept  in  the  most  convenient  place  in  Higlie  Street."  "  An- 
thony Austin  senior,  was  chosen  to  be  schoohnaster,"  and 
thirty  pounds  per  annum  were  voted  for  his  salar3^  In 
August,  1695,  a  renewal  of  this  vote  was  made ;  at  the 
same  time  there  are  intimations,  that  no  school  had  then 
been  commenced.  In  March  1695  -  6,  action  was  again 
had  toward  setting  up  a  school,  and  Anthony  Austin  sen- 
ior, at  this  time  expresses  his  reluctant  acceptance  of  the 
office  of  teacher  "  soe  farr  as  to  experiment  for  one  year," 
and  to  commence  on  the  first  of  May  next  ensuing.  It  is 
probable  that  the  first  public  school  ever  opened  in  Suf- 
field,  was  that  commenced  on  the  first  of  May  1696,  with 
Anthony  Austin  senior  for  its  principal. 

In  1702  a  school-house  was  commenced.  This  was  six- 
teen by  twenty  feet,  with  walls  six  feet  high.  It  was 
voted  to  have  it  fit  for  use  by  the  last  of  October.  After 
this,  provision  was  made  from  time  to  time,  for  the  main- 
tenance of  a  school,  and  though  votes  for  that  purpose 
were  often  modified  and  rescinded,  it  is  certain  that  one 
was  irregularly,  at  least  sustained.  The  principle  of  tax- 
ing property,  for  the  support  of  schools,  was  then  main- 
tained, though,  as  now,  opposed  by  some.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  school  privileges  in  this  place.  Children  and 
youth  of  Suffield,  think  of  that  little  school-room,  sixteen 
feet  by  twenty  feet,  for  the  whole  town,  and  the  one  in- 
structor in  reading,  writing,  and  cyphering  ;  and  compare 


43 

the  privileges  of  tliat  day,  with   those  of  the  present  time 
which  yon  enjoy. 

We  have  previously  stated  that  in  1679,  Mr.  John  Young- 
love  was  invited  to  come  and  settle  here  in  the  ministry. 
The  Act  of  the  General  Court  authorizing  a  plantation 
here,  required  the  settlement  and  maintenance  of  a  minis- 
ter of  the  Gospel  in  the  place  ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that 
anything  had  been  done,  or  at  least,  nothing  effectual 
toward  the  accomplishment  of  this  object,  until  this  time. 
Mr.  Younglove  came  here  sometime  during  that  year,  or 
early  in  1680.  He  was  the  first  minister  in  the  town, 
though  perhaps  never  ordained,  as  no  church  was  organ- 
ized here  until  sometime  after  his  decease.  He  had 
preached  at  Quabaog  (Brookfield,  Massachusetts,)  for 
sometime  previous  to  Philip's  War.  After  the  destruction 
of  that  settlement  by  the  Indians  in  1675,  he  went  to  Had- 
ley  and  taught  the  town  or  grammar  school,  till  he  was 
invited  to  Suffield.  He  continued  here  until  his  decease 
June  3,  1690.  Of  him  as  a  minister,  little  is  known  ;  he 
was  no  doubt  an  educated  man,  though  it  is  not  known 
that  he  was  a  graduate  of  any  college,  his  name  not  being 
among  those  of  the  graduates  of  Hansard,  then  tlie  only 
college  in  America.  Mr.  Younglove  loft  a  widow  and 
seven  children,  four  sons  and  three  daughters  ;  one  daugh- 
ter had  died  j^revious  to  his  decease.  His  descendants  are 
among  us  to  this  day,  though  the  family  name  has  not  been 
represented  here  for  a  long  time,  Mrs.   Sarah  Younglove, 


44 

widow  of  Mr.  Younglove  survived  him  near  twenty  years  ; 
she  died  January  17, 1709  - 10.  Their  remains  were  depos- 
ited— where  ?  Perhaps  beneath  our  feet,  at  least  near  this 
hallowed  spot.*  Ko  monument  exists  to  remind  us  and 
our  childi'en  of  the  first  minister  of  the  town.  Citizens  of 
Sufl3.eld,  how  long  shall  it  be,  that  this  may  be  said  ? 

In  May,  1690,  one  week  before  Mr.  Younglove's  de- 
cease, it  was  voted  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  to  in- 
vite a  Mr.  Stevens,  then  a  schoolmaster  in  Northampton, 
to  come  here  to  engage  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  At 
this  time  they  speak  of  their  unhappy  dissensions,  and  of 
their  need  of  being  again  united  "  together  in  peace 
and  love."  These  dissensions  had  arisen  during  Mr. 
Younglove's  ministry,  and  as  early  as  1687  it  had  been 
thought  expedient,  in  order  to  put  an  end  to  them,  to  em- 
ploy him  in  the  ministry  no  longer  than  till  the  expiration 
of  his  year,  which  would  take  place  in  the  next  ensuing 
May.  He  however  was  continued  until  May  preceding 
his  death  in  1690.  But  his  removal,  as  the  sequel  will 
show,  did  not  prove  to  be  an  eftectual  remedy  ;  the  disease 
lay  to  deep  to  be  eradicated  by  such  outward  applications. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Mr.  Stevens  accepted  their  invi- 
tation ;  but  Mr.  George  Phillips,  son  of  Rev.  Samuel 
Phillips  of  Rowley,  Massachusetts,  came  here  sometime 
during  that  year,  and  preached  until  the  spring  of  1692. 

*  The  present  meeting-house  stands  in  part  upon  the  old  burying-place,  covering 
a  number  of  graves. 


45 

Mr.  Phillips  afterward  settled  in  Brookhaven  on  Long 
Island.  It  is  said  of  him,  "though  a  good  man,  it  is 
thought  that  he  was  too  much  addicted  to  facetiousness 
and  wit."* 

July  8,  1692,  it  was  voted  to  invite  Rev.  Messrs.  Stod- 
dard of  Northampton,  Taylor  of  Westfield,  Mather  of 
Windsor,  and  Brewer  of  Springfield,  to  give  "  their  ad\dce 
and  counsell  who  they  shall  judge  may  be  a  likely  and 
suitable  person  to  dispence  the  word  of  God  to  us,  and 
after  our  bitterly  to  be  lamented  differences,  to  be  a  re- 
pairer and  healer  of  our  breaches,  and  instrumental  to 
unite  us  and  bring  us  againe  into  one."  Mr.  Stephen 
Mix  of  Kew  Haven  was  invited  and  came  here  in  the 
spring  of  1693,  but  did  not  remain  long.  August  1,  1693, 
the  people  voted  an  invitation  to  Rev.  [Nathaniel  Clap  to 
settle  with  them  in  the  ministry,  "  promising  by  God's  as- 
sistance to  carry  towards  him  in  all  respects,  becoming 
christians,  and  to  submit  themselves  to  him  as  their  minis- 
ter according  to  the  rules  of  the  Gospell."  They  also 
voted  to  give  him  a  salary  of  sixty  pounds  per  annum  and 
his  firewood ;  and  for  his  settlement,  "  a  dwelling  house 
with  a  porch,  the  house  containing  about  forty  and  two 
foot  in  length,  twenty  foot  in  breadth,  and  fourteen  foot 
between  joynts,"  together  with  a  home  lot  of  twenty  acres 
of  land,  on  which  were  "  al)out  two  acres  planted  to  an 
orchard."     Also  eighty  acres  of  land  elsewhere.     This  call 

♦Allen's  American  Biographical  Dictionary-. 


46 

to  Mr.  Clap  was  renewed  in  October  1693,  and  in  April, 

1694,  and  again  in  February  1694  -  5.  But  notwithstand- 
ing thus  earnestly  and  repeatedly  called,  Mr.  Clap  did  not 
respond  to  their  wishes,*  and  the  inhabitants  of  Suffield 
were  under  the  necessity  of  seeking  a  pastor  elsewhere. 

Accordingly,  under  date  of  August  1,  16P5,  just  two 
years  after  the  first,  and  about  six  months  after  the  last 
call  to  Mr.  Clap,  we  find  that  the  people  in  town  meeting 
assembled,  adopted  the  following  preamble  and  resolu- 
tion : — "  It  having  pleased  God  in  his  Providence  to  in- 
cline the  heart  of  Mr.  Benjamin  Ruggles  to  come  and  give 
us  a  visit ;  soe  that  we  for  some  sabbaths  past  have  had  a 
taste  of  his  laboYirs  and  proof  of  his  abilities  and  accom- 
plishment for  the  work  of  the  ministry  to  the  good  likeing, 
satisfaction,  and  content  of  us  his  auditours.  We  there- 
fore the  inhabitants  of  Sutfi.eld  being  legally  warned  and 
orderly  convened  or  assembled  together  the  first  of  August 

1695,  have  joyntly  and  unanimously  agreed  (and  by  a  full 
and  ciear  vote  manifested  the  same)  to  give  Mr.  Benjamin 
Ruggles  a  call  to  returne  and  dispence  the  things  of  God 
to  us,  and  that  in  order  to  his  continuance  and  settlement 
amongst  us  in  due  time  may  it  please  the  Lord  to  encline 
his  heart  to  embrace  the  same." 

To  Mr.  Ruggles  for  his  salary  &c.,  was  made  essentially 
the  same  proposals  as  had  been  previously  ofiered  to  Mr. 
Clap.     This  call  was  renewed  in  May  1697,  and  March  1, 

*  He  settled  in  Newport,  R.  I.     (Allen's  Biographical  Dictionary.) 


47 

1697  -  8,  Mr.  Ruggles  having  made  some  proposals  to  the 
town  in  order  to  his  settlement,  tliey  were  "  after  some  de- 
bate "  accepted. 

At  this  time  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  addressed 
the  foHowing  communication  to  the  people  of  Suffield: 

Springfield.  March  1,  1098. 
To  THE  Inhabitants  of  the  Toavn  of  Suffield. 

Gentlemen  : — The  Quarter  Sessions  of  the  Peace,  now  sittin"'  at 
Springfiekl,  having  an  intimation  of  some  differenoes  and  dissatisfiic- 
tions  among  yourselves  referring  to  the  full  settling  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Benjamin  Ruggles  as  your  minister  to  dispense  the  word  of  God  to  you 
and  to  carry  on  the  work  of  Christ  in  that  great  and  weighty  affair  and 
concern,  which  hath  a  great  influence  unto  the  welfare  benefit  and  ad- 
vantage of  your  place  and  all  the  inhabitants  thereof,  both  in  temporal 
and  spiritual  respects,  and  therefore  ought  to  be  well  weighed  and 
seriously  considered  with  humble,  sensible  and  penitent  application  to 
God  for  guidance  and  direction  ;  and  inasmuch  as  the  law  of  this 
Province  gives  a  particular  advice  and  conclusion  in  your  case  as  it  is 
circumstanced  you  having  no  settled  church  of  Christ  in  your  town, 
the  law  is  express  that  the  major  part  of  such  a  town,  agreeing,  taking 
or  obtaining  the  advice  of  three  orthodox  ministers  pointing  and  direct- 
ing to  a  man  most  suitable,  such  one  to  be  the  minister  for  such  a 
place,  and  such  a  town  engaged  to  attend  and  maintain  him,  and  al- 
though some  particular  persons  in  the  town  may  have  some  objections 
as  to  circumstances  of  qualifications  or  otherwise,  which  we  judge 
ought  at  this  juncture  to  be  overlooked  and  laid  by,  and  all  persons 
readily  and  willingly  comply  and  unanimously  agree  to  renew  your 
addresses  unto  Mr.  Ruggles,  fully  to  settle  him  with  you  in  that  great 
work  ;  as  also  that  you  endeavor  to  optain  the  help  and  direction  of 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Stoddard,  Mr.  Taylor  and  Mr.  Brewer,  and  such  others 
as  you  may  see  meet  to  call  and  invite  to  meet  at  your  place  to  advise 
and  persuade  Mr.  Ruggles,  as  also  to  advise  the  people  to  a  full  settle- 
ment of  this  so  great  an  affair  which  this  court  do  earnestly  advise  to. 
Such  an  opportunity  of  advantage  once  lost,  may  not  easily  be  recov- 
ered again.  And  therefore  being  very  desirous  of  your  welfare  and 
good  settlement  in  this  weighty  matter,  and  that  the  blessing  and  pres- 


48 

ence  of  the  Great  Shepherd  of  Israel  may  be  with  and  increase  you  in 
all  respects,  that  God  may  be  glorified  by  you,  and  you  may  find  in- 
crease in  grace,  knowledge,  love,  peace,  and  that  the  God  of  peace 
may  settle,  stablish  and  unite  you  and  all  things  to  his  glory  and  your 
welfare,  is  the  desire  and  prayer  of  tliis  court  to  which, 

We  subscribe,  this  2nd  of  March,  1698, 

Per  JOHN  PYNCHON,  Clerk. 

In  accordance  with  tlie  advice  of  the  Court,  Rev.  Messrs. 
Stoddard,  Taylor,  Williams,  Brewer  and  Mather  were  in- 
vited to  meet  in  the  place  the  last  Tuesday  in  April,  1698, 
as  council  for  ordination  and  settlement  of  Mr.  Ruggles  in 
the  ministry  here.  Although  the  record  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  first  church  in  Suffield  is  lost,  yet  it  is  evident 
that  this  transaction  was  carried  into  effect  at  the  same 
time  Mr.  Ruggles  was  ordained.  The  first  incipient  step 
we  know  of  toward  the  accomplishment  of  such  a  purpose 
was  taken  March  20,  1693  -  4,  when,  in  accordance  with 
the  advice  of  Rev.  Messrs.  Taylor  and  Mather,  a  day  of 
"  humiliation  "  was  observed  with  reference  to  "  embody- 
ing together  in  a  church  way."  But  it  appears  that  this 
purpose  was  not  then  eftected,  for  the  letter  from  the 
Court  of  Quarter  Sessions,  dated  March  1,  1698,  express- 
ly informs  us  that  no  church  then  existed  in  the  town ; 
but  within  two  years  after  this  last  date,  we  learn  from  the 
records  of  the  first  church  in  Westfield  that  there  was  then 
a  church  existing  here.  We  therefore  arrive  at  this  con- 
clusion : — that  the  first  Congregational  Church  in  Suffield 
was  organized,  and  Rev.  Benjamin  Ruggles  ordained  and 
constituted  its  first  pastor,  by  the  council  convened  here  for 


49 

that  purpose  on  Tuesday,  April  26,  1698.  Thus,  after  a 
period  of  some  twenty-eight  years  after  the  commencement 
of  the  settlement  of  the  town,  was  the  Church  of  Christ 
and  the  regular  ministration  of  the  privileges  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  Gospel  established  here. 

Mr.  Ruggles  was  a  native  of  Eoxbury,  Massachusetts. 
He  was  son  of  John  and  Sarah  Ruggles,  of  Roxbury,  and 
grandson  of  John  and  Barbara  Ruggles,  who  emigrated 
from  England  in  1635.  Of  his  gi-andfather  it  is  said  that 
he  was  a  son  of  a  "godly  father,"  that  "he  joined  the 
church  soon  after  his  coming,"  and  that  "he  was  a 
lively  Christian,  known  to  many  of  the  church  in  Old 
England,  when  they  met  socially  together."  Mr.  Rug- 
gles was  born  August  11,  1676,  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  1693,  came  to  Suffield  in  1695  when  he  was 
but  nineteen  years  of  age,  and  was  ordained  before  tho 
completion  of  his  twenty-seeond  year.  He  departed  this 
life  September  5, 1708,  0.  S.,  at  thirty-two  years  of  age.  His 
pilgrimage  on  earth  was  short,  his  years  in  the  ministry 
few,  yet  if  we  measure  his  life  and  his  ministry  by  its  use- 
fulness, and  good  accomplished,  we  arc  constrained  to  say 
of  him  that  his  is  a  long  life,  and  his  nihiistry  is  full  of 
years.  We  believe  that  the  teachings  of  Providence,  as 
learned  fi-om  records  of  the  past,  call  upon  us  as  churches, 
and  as  a  people,  to  render  thanksgiving  to  the  Great  Shep- 
herd of  Israel  that,  at  tliat  time,  ho  did  send  the  yontliful 
Benjamin,  armed  with  the  sling  of  faith,  and  the  "smooth 
stones  "  of  Gospel  truth,  to  go  forth  in  the  name  of  the. 


50 

"  Lord  of  hosts  "  and  slay  the  Goliath  of  dissension,  and 
anarchy  that  had  crept  in  among  our  fathers  threatening 
for  a  time,  the  destruction  of  that  fair  inheritance  which 
has  been  transmitted  to  us.  So  effectually  was  the  spirit 
of  discord  and  contention  laid  and  kept  in  subjection  after- 
ward, through  the  blessing  of  God  upon  His  preached 
word,  that  we  hear  little  more  of  it  in  this  town  for  nearly 
half  a  century. 

Mr.  Ruggles  married  with  Mercy  "Woodbridge,  Novem- 
ber 19,  1696  : — She  was  a  daughter  of  Rev.  John  and  Mrs. 
Abigail  "Woodbridge  of  Wethersfield,  and  a  grand  daugh- 
ter of  Gov.  William  Leete.  Mrs.  E,uggles  died  June  28, 
1707,  leaving  seven  children,  one  an  infant  of  six  days. 
From  them  have  arisen  a  numerous  posterity,  many  of 
whom  have  filled  places  of  usefulness  and  honor  both  in 
State  and  in  the  church.  Two  were  among  the  first  corn- 
pan}^  of  missionaries  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  who  sailed 
from  Boston  October  23,  1819.  "  The  righteous  shall  be 
in  everlasting  remembrance." 

It  is  not  known  from  actual  direct  record  who  were  the 
persons  who  constituted  the  membership  of  the  church  at 
its  formation  and  during  the  period  of  Mr.  Ruggles'  minis- 
try. From  evidence  drawn  from  various  sources,  we  have 
reason  to  believe,  that  in  proportion  to  the  population  of 
the  town,  its  membership  was  large. 

Rev.  Ebenezer  Devotion  successor  to  Mr.  Ruggles,  in 
the  pastoral  office,  came  to  Suffield  sometime  in  June  or 
July  1709,  and  was  ordained  June  28,  1710.     Mr.  Devo- 


51 

tion  it  is  supposed  was  a  native  of  Dorchester,  Massacliu- 
setts  ;  lie  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1707.  He  con- 
tinued in  the  discharge  of  the  pastoral  duties  of  this 
church  until  his  decease,  April  11, 1741,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
seven  years,  and  in  the  thirty-first  year  of  his  ministry. 
During  this  ministry,  three  hundred  and  thirty-four  persons 
were  admitted  to  the  communion  of  the  church,  three 
hundred  and  seven  by  profession ;  one  hundred  and  twen- 
ty of  which  were  admitted  in  the  year  1735.  But  one 
year  of  his  ministry  (1717)  passed  without  some  additions 
to  the  church. 

Mr.  Devotion  appears  to  have  been  a  fervent  christian  ; 
and  a  faithful,  beloved  and  successful  Pastor.  He  was 
thrice  married ;  first,  October  4,  1710  with  Hannah  Breck, 
daughter  of  Capt.  John  Breck  of  Dorchester,  Massachu- 
setts. Mrs.  Hannah  Devotion  died  March  23,  1719,  aged 
thirty-two  years,  leaving  three  children  a  son  and  two 
daughters.  Mr.  Devotion  married  a  second  time  June  4, 
1720,  with  l^aomi  Taylor  daughter  of  Rev.  Edward  and 
Mrs.  Euth  Taylor  of  Westfield,  Massachusetts.  Mrs. 
Naomi  Devotion  died  August  6,  1739,  aged  forty-four 
years,  leaving  six  children,  one  son  and  five  daughters. 
Mr.  Devotion  married  a  third  time  October  27,  1740  with 
Mrs.  Sarah  Hebard  who  survived  him.  His  sous  both  en- 
tered the  ministry,  and  were  of  considerable  eminence. 
The  eldest,  Ebenezer,  settled  in  Scotland,  a  parish  in 
Windham,  Connecticut,  and  the  youngest,  John,  settled 
in  the  third  parish  in  Saybrook,  Connecticut. 


52 

Ecclesiastical  affairs  of  a  secular  nature  relating  to  min- 
isters' salaries,  building liouses  for  public  worsbip,  &c.,  were 
conducted  by  the  town  until  1740,  when  it  was  divided 
into  two  parishes,  and  since  tliat  time  sucli  affairs  have 
been  conducted  by  tbe  several  Ecclesiastical  societies. 

Wbat  bas  been  called  tbe  great  awakening  of  tbe 
eigbteentb  century,  occurred  just  at  tbe  close  of  Mr.  Devo- 
tion's ministry,  resulting  in  tbe  gathering  into  tbis  cburcb 
of  more  tban  two  bundred  persons. 

Rev.  Ebenezer  Gay,  D.  D.,  successor  to  Mr.  Devotion, 
came  to  SufSeld  in  1741,  and  preacbed  here  tbe  first  time 
August  9tb  of  tbat  year.  He  was  ordained  January  13, 
1742,  nine  months  subsequent  to  Mr.  Devotion's  decease. 

Tbe  di^asion  of  tbe  town  into  two  parishes,  became  tbe 
cause  of  dissension  in  the  cburcb  which  began  to  develope 
itself  soon  after  Mr.  Gay's  settlement.  It  was  respecting 
tbe  right  of  the  members  of  tbe  cburcb  residing  in  the 
west  Parish  to  act  in  church  affairs,  some  acknowledging 
such  a  right,  while  others  contended  against  it.  A  ques- 
tion, which  at  the  present  day  would  present  no  difficulty 
of  solution  ;  but  then  produced  discord  which  could  not  be 
allayed  until  an  arrangment  was  made  by  which  the  or- 
ganization of  tbe  second  Congregational  Church  was  ef- 
fected, IsTovember  10,  1743. 

Beside  this  difficulty,  which  was  thus  disposed  of,  anoth- 
er element  of  discord  began  its  development  in  tbis  church 
about  this  time.  It  bas  been  observed,  tbat  over  two  bun- 
.dred  persons  bad  been  gathered  into  tbe  cburcb  as  the 


53 

fruits  of  the  great  revival.  It  can  readily  be  perceived, 
that  among  this  number,  together  vt^ith  the  previous  mem- 
bership there  must  have  been  a  great  variety  of  natural 
temperament,  aljility,  and  christian  attainment.  While 
there  vrere  those,  who  were  strong  in  faith,  yet  humble  in 
spirit ;  there  were  also  the  weak,  the  unstable,  and  yet 
others,  who  like  Diotrephes  loved  the  pre-eminence. 
Added  to  this,  the  Davenport  School,  so  called,  had  then 
developed  itself  over  the  land  ;  its  followers  claiming  what 
they  termed,  freedom  to  exercise  gifts,  or  in  other  words, 
the  freedom  of  all  classes  and  both  sexes,  to  speak  at  all 
times  in  public  worship,  as  they  thought  the  Spirit  moved 
them ;  and  these  exercises  accompanied  with  responses, 
groanings,  hallooings  and  grotesque  gesturings.  These 
practices  begau  to  be  advocated  to  some  extent  by  mem- 
bers in  this  church.  The  result  was,  tlie  members  soon  be- 
gan to  be  arrayed  into  parties ;  Dr.  Gay  with  the  major  part 
of  the  church  taking  the  strong  conservative  ground  of  the 
Cambridge  School,  while  quite  a  number  in  the  minority 
under  the  head  of  Joseph  Hastings,  afterward  the  first 
pastor  of  the  Separates,  advocated  the  opposite  or  Daven- 
port principle.  Thus  originated  that  schism  which  resulted 
in  constituting  the  Separate  Church  in  this  town.  As 
early  as  October  10,  1742,  at  the  close  of  public  worship 
on  the  sabbath,  Josei)h  Hastings  arose  and  expressed  liim- 
self  in  a  loud  voice  in  words  of  this  import,  "  Come  forth 
you  Xicodomnses,  you  ministers  and  magistrates,  you 
bloody  persecutors."     For  this  and  for  ex[»rcssing  a  wisli 


64 

that  "  tlie  cliurcli  was  broke  all  to  pieces,"  lie  was  brought 
under  the  discipline  of  the  church.  For  his  expressions 
on  the  sabbath,  the  church  by  vote  reproved  him.  To  his 
remarks  with  respect  to  the  church ;  he  made  an  explana- 
tory statement,  that  he  had  said  "y'  he  tho*  y®  divisions 
among  us  were  made  or  occasioned  by  y"  spirit  of  God  ; 
and  if  he  so  wish'd  they  were  greater."  The  church  ac- 
cepted this  explanation,  and  the  second  charge  was  over- 
looked. In  1747  Mr.  Hastings  with  a  number  of  the 
members  withdrew  in  an  irregular  manner,  and  set  up 
meeting  by  themselves.  They  were  requested  by  the 
church  to  give  their  reasons  in  writing  for  so  doing ;  this 
they  refused  to  do.  They  were  then  permitted  to  do  it 
verbally,  but  their  reasons  not  being  satisfactory  to  the 
church,  it  was  by  vote  declared  March  9,  1748,  "  that  this 
church  are  of  opinion  that  they  are  no  longer  properly 
members  of  this  church." 

Dr.  Gay  continued  the  acting  pastor  until  March  6, 
1793,  when  his  son  Rev.  Ebenezer  Gay,  Junior,  was  or- 
dained. Dr.  Gay  died  March  7,  1796  in  the  seventy- 
eighth  year  of  his  age,  and  fifty-fifth  of  his  ministiy. 

Rev.  Ebenezer  Gay,  Junior,  continued  the  acting  pastor 
until  December  13,  1826,  and  senior  pastor  until  his  de- 
cease January  1,  1837,  in  the  seventy-first  year  of  his  age, 
and  forty-fourth  of  his  ministry. 

Rev.  Joel  Mann  was  installed  pastor  December  13,  1826, 
and  dismissed  at  his  request,  December  1,  1829.  Rev. 
Henry  Robinson  was   installed  June    1,  1831,  dismissed 


55 

April  18,  1837.  Rev.  Asaliel  C.  "Washburn  was  installed 
January  3,  1838,  dismissed  July  23,  1851.  Rev.  John  IL 
Miller,  the  present  pastor,  was  installed  December  28, 
1853.  All  these  are  now  living,  and  by  the  good  Provi- 
dence of  God  are  permitted  to  be  present  to  join  with  us 
in  the  exercises  of  this  day. 

There  has  been  several  periods  as  indicated  ])y  oiir 
records  when  God  has  appeared  to  bless  this  church  with 
the  more  special  presence  of  His  Holy  Spirit.  In  1721, 
fourteen  persons  were  received  by  the  church  on  their  pro- 
fession of  faith ;  in  1728,  thirty-six ;  in  1735,  one  hundred 
and  twenty ;  in  1741,  one  hundred  and  seventy-six ;  in 
1742,  thirty-one  ;  in  1798,  ten ;  in  1822,  sixty-five. 

Since  that  time,  these  periods  have  been  still  more  fre- 
quent until  the  present :  fifty-seven  have  been  received  into 
the  fellowship  of  the  church  the  current  year.  The  whole 
number  admitted  since  Mr.  Devotion's  ordination  is  about 
one  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty.  The  present  number 
of  members  is  about  two  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  second  Congregational  Church  was  organized  jN'o- 
vember  10,  1743.  Their  first  pastor  was  Rev.  John  Gra- 
ham, who  was  ordained  October  22,  1746.  Mr.  Graham 
was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Daniel  AYaldo,  the  venerable  man 
whom  God  has  given  strength  to  continue,  and  be  present 
with  us  this  day,  in  the  ninety-seventh  year  of  his  age. 
Mr.  Waldo  was  ordained  May  23,  1792.  Rev.  J.  ^lix  suc- 
ceeded him.  Frequent  changes  have  since  been  made  of 
incumbents  of  the  pastoral  office  in  that  church. 


56 

It  lias  been  stated  tliat  Josepli  Hastings  and  others^ 
withdrew  from  tlie  first  cliurcli  in  174T.  Tliey  were  or- 
ganized into  wliat  was  called  the  Separate  Church,  and 
Joseph  Hastings  was  ordained  their  first  pastor,  April  18^ 
1750.  They  built  a  house  for  public  woi-ship  in  1762.* 
Mr.  Hastings  having  either  withdrawn  from  them  or  been 
dismissed,  Rev.  Israel  Holley  was  ordained  and  became 
their  pastor  June  29,  1763.  This  church  and  society  was 
dissolved  about  1784.  Mr.  Holley  was  afterward  appro- 
bated by  the  Hartford  Korth  Association  and  preached  a 
few  years  in  Granby,  Connecticut,  and  in  Cornwall.  He 
then  returned  to  Sufiield  where  he  died  June  28,  1809, 
aged  eighty-two  years. 

A  number  of  persons  who  for  a  time  were  connected 
with  the  Separates,  were  about  the  year  1769,  constituted 
the  first  Baptist  Church,  with  Rev.  Joseph  Hastings,  pastor. 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Rev.  John  Hastings,  in  1775. 
Mr.  Joseph  Hastings  died  ISTovember  4,  1785,  aged  eighty- 
two  years.  Mr.  John  Hastings  died  March  17, 1811,  aged 
sixty-eight.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Asahel  Morse,  who 
died  June  10,  1838,  aged  sixty-six.  Since  that  time,  some 
ten  dift'erent  persons  have  officiated  in  the  pastoral  rela- 
tion to  this  church.     Its  present  membership  is  ninety. 

The  second  Baptist  Church  was  constituted  in  1805. 
Its  pastors  have  been  numerous,  none  having  continued 
but  a  few  years,  except  its  present  one,  Rev.  Dwight  Ives, 

*  This  house  was  removed  to  Agawam,  and  is  yet  occupied  by  the  Congregational 
Church  in  the  East  Parish. 


57 

D.  D.,  who  entered  upon  those  duties  in  connection  with 
this  church  in  1839.  Its  entire  membership  has  been 
about  fifteen  hundred.  During  the  time  its  present  pastor 
has  been  with  them  eight  hundred  have  been  added  to  it. 
"  The  present  number  after  a  thorough  revision  of  the  list 
is  six  hundred  and  fifteen."* 

There  is  a  small  Methodist  Episcopal  Society  in  the 
West  Parish,  but  of  their  history  we  can  give  no  particu- 
lar account. 

The  first  birth,  and  the  first  death  which  occurred  in 
Suffield,  according  to  the  Hampshire  County  Records  were 
in  the  family  of  Judah  and  Mary  Trumble.  John,  born 
March  5,  1674,  and  Ebenezer  died  September  23,  1675. 
The  first  marriage  was  that  of  Thomas  Taylor  and  Abigail 
Roe,  June  15,  1678,  The  family  cognomen  of  Trumble 
and  Taylor,  as  descending  from  Judah  Trumble  and 
Thomas  Taylor,  has  become  extinct,  in  this  town. 

It  might  be  interesting  to  take  a  brief  retrospective  view 
of  the  history  of  the  original  families  of  the  town,  but  our 
time  will  not  permit. 

Our  ancient  burial  place  claims,  at  least  a  passing  no- 
tice. The  first  mention  of  it  in  our  records,  incidentally 
occurs  under  date  of  March  6,  1682-3.  In  April  1684,  it 
was  "  voted  to  fence  in  y*"  burying  place."  This  was  the 
beautiful  portion  of  ground,  to  which  our  steps  have  this 
day  been  directed.  Beneath  the  turf,  our  feet  has  pressed ; 
under  this  sacred  house,  in  which  we  are  now  assembled ; 

*  Statement  by  Dr.  Ives. 

8 


58 

liave  long  since  been  deposited  tlie  mortal  remains  of  those 
who  first  encountered,  and  began  the  subjugation  of  the 
forest  that  once  waved  in  unbroken  grandeur  over  these 
hills  and  dales.  A  few  humble  monuments  remain  to  re- 
mind us  of  them ;  let  those  dilapidated,  moss  covered 
stones  be  cherished  as  mementos  of  the  past,  and  as  we 
tread  the  soil  that  rests  upon  the  unmarked  graves  of 
others,  let  us  listen  to  the  silent  voice  that  calls  upon  us 
for  reflection. 

"  Hark  !.  how  the  sacred  calm  that  breathes  around 
Bids  every  fierce  tumultuous  passion  cease  ; 
In  still  small  accents  whispering  from  the  ground, 
A  grateful  earnest  of  eternal  peace."* 

But  those  are  not  all  whose  remains  have  here  been  de- 
posited. Their  children,  and  their  children's  children 
luito  the  sixth  and  seventh  generation,  together  with  the 
stranger  that  has  come  within  their  gates,  and  humble  Af- 
rican, once  held  in  bondage  under  their  roofs  ;  here,  have 
rested  from  their  labors,  and  together  await  a  resurrection 

day. 

"  The  breezy  call  of  incense  breathing  morn, 

The  swallow  twittering  from  the  straw  built  shed. 
The  cock's  shrill  clarion  or  the  echoing  horn, 

No  more  shall  rouse  them  from  their  lowly  bed."* 

Too  much  has  this  sacred  spot  been  neglected.  Genera- 
tion after  generation  have  here  been  laid  in  the  dust,  and 
it  would  have  seemed,  that  survivors  would  have  cherished 
it,  with  deep  respect.  But  how  has  it  been  ?  There  are 
many  here  who  can  well  remember  the  time,  when  the 

*  Gray. 


59 

best  method  that  was  devised  to  take  care  of  it,  was  to 
convert  it  into  a  sheep  pasture  ;  and  it  is  of  but  very  re- 
cent date  that  a  man  would  be  lost  from  siffht  amid  the 
wild,  unsightly  shrubbeiy  that  was  allowed  to  flourish 
upon  some  portions  of  it.  The  original  ground  had  be- 
come filled  with  graves,  to  the  extent  that  the  sexton's 
spade  in  preparing  a  resting  place  for  those  recently  de- 
parted, often  disturbed  the  rjemains  of  those  who  had  gone 
before.  But  thanks :  improvement  has  been  made  ;  ,sheep 
can  now  find  pasture  elsewhere ;  unsightly  bushes,  have 
in  a  measure  given  place  to  ornamental  trees,  and  through 
public  ond  private  enterprise,  the  area  of  the  enclosure, 
has  been  enlarged.  Still  there  is  scope  for  further  exer- 
tion :  public  opinion  should  be  directed  with  strong  repro- 
bation against  the  desecration  of  those  grounds,  by  the 
reckless  pranks,  of  the  thoughtless ;  the  hand  of  cultivated 
taste,  should  be  employed  to  improve  and  protect  those 
precints,  until  it  becomes  a  place  where  true,  enlightened, 
christian  refinement,  may  in  sacred,  cheerful,  contempla- 
tion, recall  to  mind  memories  of  those  who  have  gone  be- 
fore, consider  the  bourne,  to  which  we  are  all  hastening, 
and  lifting  up  the  eye  of  faith  look  with  unwavering  con- 
fidence, toward  the  eternal  rest  of  the  pure  in  heart,  ex- 
claiming, in  fullness  of  joy, 

"  0  pjlorious  hour  I  0  blest  abode  ! 
I  shall  be  near,  and  like  my  God ; 
And  flesh,  and  sin,  no  more  control 
The  sacred  pleasures  of  the  soul."* 

*  Watts. 


60 

When  the  town  was  organized,  there  were  about  eighty 
proprietors  settled  in  the  place  some  sixty  of  them,  with 
families  ;  one  half  of  the  names  of  those  families  are  now 
extinct  in  this  town.*  At  the  time  of  Mr.  Ruggles'  ordi- 
nation, the  number  of  families  had  increased  to  about  sev- 
enty-five or  eighty.  This  increase  was  mainly  from  fami- 
lies of  first  proprietors,  but  very  few  having  come,  or  been 
admitted  from  other  places.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
first  proprietors  were  children  of  the  first  emigrants  from 


*  Heads  of  families  in  Suffield,  at  its  organization  in  1682 
an  asterisk  (*)  attached  are  now  extinct  in  Suflfield. 
Edward  Allen,  senior,  deceased  in  1696,       *  John  Lawton,     deceased 
John  Allen,  moved  to  Deerfield, 
Capt.  Anthony  Austin,  deceased  1708, 

*  James  Earlier,  moved  to  Springfield, 

*  James  Barlow,  deceased   1690, 

*  Thomas  Barber,        ' '  

*  John  Barber,  "  1690, 
John  Burbank,  senior,  "           1709, 

*  Edward  Burleson,     "  1698, 

*  Samuel  Bushe,  moved  to  Westfield, 

*  Isaac  Cokebread,  deceased 


Those  surnames  with 


*  Thomas  Copley,  "  1712, 

*  Abraham  Dibble,  "  1690, 

*  Joseph  Eastman,  "  1692, 

*  Zerubbabel  Tyler,  "  

*John  Filley,  "  ab't  1688, 

*  David  Froe,  "  1710, 
Launcelot  Granger,  "  1689, 
Timothy  Hale,  "  1689, 
Joseph  Harmon,  "  1729, 
Dea.  Thos.  Hanchet,  "  1686, 
Thos.  Hanchet,  Jr.,  moved  to  Westfield, 
John  Hanchet,  deceased,  1744, 
Walter  Halladay,  "  1709, 

*  John  Hodge,  "  

*  Thomas  Huscley,  "  1721, 

*  John  Huggins,  "  

*  George  Jefi"ery,  "  1683, 

Serg't  Samuel  Kent,  "  

James  King,  senior,  "  1722, 


Samuel  Lane,  " 

*  John  Millington,        " 

*  John  Mighill,  senior, " 
Edmund  Marshall,  " 
Capt.  George  Norton,  " 
Robert  Old,  " 
Timothy  Palmer,  " 
*Thomas  Parsons,  " 
*John  Pengilley,        " 

*  William  Pritchard,  " 
Thomas  Remington,  " 
James  Rising,  senior,  " 
Hughe  Roe,  " 
*John  Scot,  » 

*  Joseph  Segars,  " 

*  John  Severans,  " 
Thomas  Spencer,  " 
Victory  Sykes,  " 
Stephen  Taylor,  " 
Thomas  Taylor,  " 
James  Taylor,  " 
Jonathan  Taylor,  Jr.,  " 

*  Judah  Trumble,        " 

*  Joseph  Trumble,      " 

*  Michael  Towsley,     " 

*  Jonathan  Winchill,  " 

*  David  Winchill,        " 

*  Richard  Woolworth, " 

*  John  Younglove,       " 


1690, 


1732, 
1696, 
1728, 
1696, 
1701, 
1735, 

1721, 
1688, 
1689, 

1689, 
1740, 

1689, 

1708, 

1741, 

1726, 
1692, 
1684, 
1712, 
1716, 
1723, 
1696, 
1690. 


61 

England,  who  liad  settled  in  tlic  neighboring  towns  of 
Hartford,  "Windsor  and  Springfield,  and  the  more  eastern 
towns  of  Rowley,  Ipswich  and  ISTewbury,  in  Massachusetts. 
But  few,  if  any  of  them  were  born  in  the  old  country,  and 
all  had  grown  up,  amid  the  trials  and  deprivations  of  a 
pioneer  life  in  a  wild  unsubdued  wilderness,  separated 
from  the  civilized  world,  by  the  dark  waves  of  the  broad 
Atlantic.  No  steamships  then,  made  their  ten  day  voy- 
ages across  the  stormy  ocean,  conveying  their  precious 
freight  of  human  beings,  from  continent  to  continent.  Ko 
telegraphic  cable  lay  beneath  those  wild  waves,  stretched 
from  shore  to  shore,  to  conduct  the  magnetic  flash  freight- 
ed with  intelligence  of  the  transactions  of  either  clime. 
The  transports  of  those  days,  required  weeks,  and  months 
to  convey  intelligence  between  transatlantic  harbors.  The 
wilderness  around  them  was  peopled  with  wild  savage 
tribes,  .with  whom  they  sometime  had  friendly  intercourse, 
and  then  again  were  engaged  in  deadly  conflict. 

Thus  situated  what  must  have  been  their  physical,  intel- 
lectual, and  moral  characters.  Some  perhaps  may  imagine, 
that  separated  as  they  were  from  the  luxuries,  and  the 
concomitant  temptations  of  civilized  life,  and  liaviiig 
grown  up  under  the  influence  of  the  strict  religious  train- 
ing of  their  puritan  fixthers  and  mothers,  that  tlie  sons  and 
daughters  of  that  generation,  must  have  been  from  their 
youth  a  godly  race.  But  are  there  no  moral  dangers  in  a 
life  of  deprivation,  as  well  as  in  a  life  of  })k'nty,  or  even 
luxury  ?     Is  man  anything  l)ut   an  erring,   sinful  creature. 


62 

in  any  situation,  yet  without  the  grace  of  God,  the  living 
vital  principle,  of  true  piety  in  the  heart  ? 

Subjected  to  toil  and  hardship,  the  children  of  the  emi- 
grants, who  survived  the  dangers  of  early  life,  under  their 
circumstances,  mostly  no  doubt,  grew  up  a  hardy,  robust 
generation.  Isolated  as  it  were  from  mankind  they  im- 
bibed a  self-reliant,  independent  spirit;  but  deprived  of 
thorough  educational  privileges,  their  minds  were  not  de- 
veloped by  the  broad  principles  of  true  christian  refine- 
ment. Trained  under  the  strict  discipline,  and  teachings 
of  their  puritan  fathers,  the  seed  of  the  word  of  truth  was 
implanted  in  their  hearts,  but  it  needed  the  waterings  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  effulgent  vivifying  beams  of  the 
Sun  of  Eighteousness,  to  cause  it  to  bring  forth  its  legiti- 
mate fruit.  This  work  not  having  been  developed  in  their 
hearts,  to  the  casting  out  of  that  spirit  of  the  world  which 
seeks  its  own  ;  and  to  the  engrafting  in  of  the  spirit  of 
faith,  and  charity  which  seeks  first  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  his  righteousness,  they  were  not, -like  their  fathers, 
prepared  to,  or  rather  did  not  appreciate  the  importance  of 
establishing  the  ordinances  of  the  Gospel  at  the  veiy  out- 
set or  commencement  of  their  settlement  in  a  new  place. 
Hence  we  find  a  material  difference  in  the  history  of 
many,  at  least,  of  the  later,  from  that  of  the  earlier  towns 
of  New  England. 

With  the  puritan  emigrants  the  church  and  pastor,  ac- 
companied by  the  school  and  the  teacher,  were  the  prima- 
ry object  sought;  through  the  instrumentality  of  which, 


they  expected  to  establish  civil,  and  religious  liberty  ;  and 
receive  the  blessing  of  God,  for  tliemselves,  and  their  pos- 
terity. Hence  we  find  them  established  simultaneously 
^vith  their  settlement. 

But  after  the  settlement  of  this  town,  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury passes,  ere  the  church  with  its  pastor,  sheds  its  genial 
influence  over  those  who  had  here  made  their  homes. 
The  fathers  of  this  town,  did  not,  like  the  patriarch  Abra- 
ham, at  the  first  pitching  of  their  tents,  build  there  an  al- 
tar unto  the  Lord.  In  this  the}'  erred,  and  for  this,  they 
suffered.  Infidelity  may  scofi"  at  this  idea ;  but  it  needs  no 
argument,  to  prove  to  the  true  christian,  that  tlie  living 
church  of  Christ  is  "the  salt  of  the  earth,"  and  "the  light 
of  the  world." 

Perhaps  it  will  be  said  by  some,  that  our  fathers  were 
poor.  True  indeed  they  were ;  and  were  not  theirs  before 
them  ?  had  they  not  suffered  loss  of  worldly  ease,  that  they 
might  enjoy  Christ's  ordinances  ?  And  does  it  require  the 
riches,  or  even  a  competency  of  this  world's  goods,  to  ena- 
ble man  to  obey  the  Di^ane  command,  "  Do  this  in  re- 
membrance of  me."  The  truth  is,  those  who  truly  cht-r- 
ish  the  spirit  of  Christ  in  tlicir  liearts,  are  ever  ready  to 
co-operate  in  setting  up  the  Toinjtle  (^f  God,  wlicrevcr  lie 
may  cast  their  lot;  -which  temple  they  are. 

But  the  good  seed  sown  in  the  hearts  of  our  fathers,  was 
not  to  be  lost,  though  choked  for  a  time.  The  tliorny 
cares  of  the  world,  were,  by  the  dealings  of  an  overruling 
Providejice  to  be  subdued,  that  the  good  seed  might  take 


64 

root  in  tlieir  hearts,  and  produce  an  abundant  harvest. 
The  divine  precept  "  seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  his  righteousness,"  must  be  obeyed,  God  must  be  hon- 
ored, his  church  established,  his  ordinances  cherished,  and 
the  way  is  prepared  for  the  concomitant  blessing,  that 
what  is  needed  of  this  world  "  shall  be  added  unto  you." 

Thus  has  God  in  his  Providence  dealt  with  our  fathers. 
He  has  guided,  watched  over,  and  protected  them  ;  and 
when  they  erred,  like  a  kind  father  he  corrected  them ; 
when  they  trusted  in  themselves,  He  reminded  them  of 
their  dependance  upon  Him.  When  they  looked  unto 
Him,  He  blessed  them ;  and  the  inheritance  has  been 
transmitted  to  us.  The  church  has  come  down  to  us  with 
increased  strength ;  though  clouds  have  at  times  arisen, 
and  enveloped  its  beauties  in  darkness.  Still  the  good 
Shepherd  has  watched  over  it.  His  beams  have  dispelled 
the  darkness,  and  He  has  watered  it  from  time  to  time, 
with  the  heavenly  dews  of  his  grace. 

And  this  has  been  accompanied  with  His  temporal 
blessings.  Family,  educational,  and  civil  privileges,  have 
been  continued  and  increased  unto  us.  The  wilderness  has 
been  changed  to  fruitful  fields.  These  lonely  pathways, 
with  others  of  later  date,  are  made  cheerful  with  the  pres- 
ence of  the  homes  of  the  happy  and  the  free,  and  all  may 
enjoy  the  privileges,  of  social,  civil,  and  religious  liberty. 
What  was  once  proverbially  "poor  mean  Stony-Brook," 
has  become,  as  noted,  for  its  wealth,  fertility,  and  beauty. 

To  accomplish  this,  it  has  required  the  instrumentality 


65 

of  the  toil  of  fathers  and  mothers,  followed  by  that  of  their 
sons  and  daughters,  through  succeeding  generations.  Our 
ancestors  encountered  and  in  a  measure  overcome,  that 
wilderness  which  once  overspread  this  now  fair  domain. 
The  sons, 'aided  by  the  encouraging,  and  co-operating  hand 
of  the  daughters,  took  up  the  work,  and  carried  it  onward. 
And  when  the  savage  foe,  urged  on,  to  accomplish  the  am- 
bitious designs  of  princes  and  their  abettors,  invaded  the 
land ;  then  they  stood  up  with  their  fellow  citizens  in  its 
defence,  and  the  shores  of  Lakes  George  and  Champlain 
witnessed  their  valor.  When  the  liberties  of  their  countiy 
called  for  defence  against  the  encroachments  of  a  fratricid- 
al foe,  Dorchester,*  and  Brookline  Heights,  Saratoga,  and 
Oriskany  ;  Chippewa  and  Lundy's  Lane  received  the  trust 
of  the  sacrifice  of  their  blood.  IS'or  have  the  sons  of  Suf- 
field  been  found  wanting  in  the  more  peaceful  scenes  of 
usefulness.  The  whole  country  from  the  Canadas,  to  Mex- 
ico, from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  has  been  a  field  for 
their  enterprise.  The  councils  of  state,  and  of  justice, 
have  witnessed  their  ability  and  felt  its  influence.  Nor  has 
the  pulpit  been  altogether  neglected  by  them,  but  many 
have  stood  up  in  it,  and  proclaimed  the  word  of  life. 

And  now  fellow  citizens,  perhaps  it  may  be  thought 
that  we  are  going  beyond  the  proper  sphere  of  remark  for 
this  occasion ;  but  may  we  not  have  your  candid  indul-. 
gence,  and  patient  attention,  while  we  call  upoo,  you  to  be. 

*It  may  appear  somewhat  singular  to  some,  to  refer  to  Dorckestw;  ^eights  if),  this, 
connection ;  but  our  records  and  history  justify  this  reference 

9 


66 

mindful  to  improve  this  inheritance  which  you  enjoy:  not 
merely  for  your  own  selfish  purposes  of  acquisition,  or  in- 
dulgence and  ease ;  but  to  remember  that  "  unto  whom- 
soever  much  is  given,  of  him  shall  be  much  required,"  and 
that  "  he  that  watereth,  shall  be  watered  also  himself."  To 
do  this  it  is  necessary,  first  to  cultivate  the  man ;  not  a 
part  merely,  but  the  whole  man,  in  all  his  faculties,  physi- 
cal, intellectual,  and  moral ;  the  body  and  the  soul. 
Man  with  his  physical  nature  only  developed,  is  but  a 
brute,  with  his  physical  and  intellectual  only,  he  sinks  into 
practical  infidelity,  and  with  his  moral  nature  cultivated 
alone,  he  becomes  an  enthusiast :  thus  in  either  case,  fail- 
ing of  coming  to  those  pure  and  satisfying  enjoyments, 
which  our  Heavenly  Father  has  prepared  for  the  pure  in 

heart. 

There  are  some  things  among  us,  as  a  community, 
which  stand  in  the  way  and  hinder  the  full  development 
of  the  man,  and  therefore  need  reformation  or  removal. 
"We  will  just  refer  to  some  of  them.  One  is,  we  labor  too 
much,  or  rather  our  labor  is  too  much  misapplied.  Indus- 
try is  a  noble  virtue,  and  when  directed  in  proper  chan- 
nels, and  applied  to  right  objects,  by  that  wisdom  which 
is  from  above,  it  becomes  conducive  to  the  development 
of  all  the  faculties  of  man,  l:)oth  of  body  and  soul.  But 
industry,  when  prostituted  to  be  subservient  to  the  mere 
love  of  gain,  or  the  gratification  of  the  appetite  for  ambi- 
tion, luxury,  and  show,  becomes  an  evil,  sinking  ourselves 
by  it,  and  others  with  us,  to  the  condition  of  slaves ;  do- 


67 

ing  this  we  "labor  for  tliat  which  satisfyeth  not."  Some 
perhaps,  will  say,  they  must  toil  incessantly  to  support 
their  families.  But  is  not  this  plea,  too  often  made  to  cov- 
er the  sin  of  covetousness,  or  some  other  evil,  and  at  the 
most  favorable  view  is  it  not  practical  infidelity,  an  entire 
distrust  of  the  teachings  of  our  Lord. 

Another  evil  among  us  is,  that  idea  of  utility,  prevailing 
to  a  firreat  extent,  which  can  discover  nothing:  valu- 
able,  in  any  enterprise,  having  in  view  the  development 
of  true  cultivated  taste.  The  beautiful  is  practically  des- 
pised. "We  boast,  and  that  not  without  reason,  of  our 
beautiful  town ;  but  what  do  we  do,  to  enhance  its  beau- 
ties ;  look  for  example  at  our  naturally  beautiful  common ; 
made  a  gymnasium  of  at  one  end,  and  a  gravel  pit  at  the 
other,  while  throughout  its  length  it  is  traversed  with 
pathways  at  every  one's  fancied  convenience,  and  not  a  tree 
or  a  shrub,  to  decorate  its  naked  bosom,  or  cast  a  cooling 
shade  from  summer's  burning  sun.  Enough  is  expended 
upon  our  residences,  to  make  them  homes  to  be  cherished 
in  the  memories  of  our  children,  and  admired  by  the  stran- 
ger, were  they  not  so  destitute  of  the  lineaments,  and  the 
surroundings,  of  true  taste.  It  would  not  perhaps  cost  five 
hundred  dollarvS  to  make  a  duplicate  of  the  most  truly  taste- 
ful home  in  our  town.  It  is  not  the  pecuniary  means  that 
is  wanting,  but  the  cultivation  of  those  faculties  of  the  soul 
whi<}h  would  lead  us  to  discover  beauties,  worthy  of  our 
attention  in  all  the  works  of  God,  whether  accomplished 


68 

by  his  direct  agency,  or  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 
cultivated  taste  of  man. 

Another  evil  is  our  religion  ;  start  not,  brother,  we  say 
our  religion  ;  not  the  pure  self-denying  religion  which  is 
of  God  ;  but  that  which  seeks  to  satisfy  conscience,  with 
an  outward  observance  of  duty  in  formal  worship  and  or- 
dinances, while  the  heart  is  given  to  the  world. 

Fellow  Citizens,  be  not  offended  though  we  speak  in 
plain  language.  It  is  not  the  true  friend  that  flattereth 
with  his  lips ;  but  he  that  is  a  friend  indeed,  will  speak  the 
words  of  truth  and  soberness,  though  they  be  not  smooth 
words.  And  may  we  not  hope,  yea,  may  we  not  see  a  re- 
formation from  some  of  these  evils. 

Let  not  incessant  toil  so  wear  down  your  physical  na- 
tures, and  benumb  the  finer  faculties  of  the  soul,  as  to  dis- 
qualify you  for  high,  and  pure  enjoyments  of  domestic  and 
social  life.  Let  not  the  love  of  gain  so  blind  your  moral 
vision,  that  you  cannot  find  happiness  for  yourself,  in  the 
welfare  of  your  fellow  man.  Cherish  the  love  of  the  beau- 
tiful in  your  hearts.  Manifest  it  in  your  fields,  in  your 
homes,  and  on  your  person  ;  not  by  imitating  the  gaudy 
display  of  fashion  and  luxury,  but  be  guided  by  the  aspi- 
rations of  a  pure  and  cultivated  mind.  Form  associations 
for  the  development  of  these  qualities  in  your  social  rela- 
tions, let  them  improve  your  public  grounds  with  decora- 
tions of  nature  and  of  art.  Seek  gravel  elsewhere  than  on 
your  public  Common,  it  is  useful  but  there  is  an  abundance 
of  it  in  your  hill-sides.     Boys  should  play,  it  is  delightful, 


69 

and  healthfal  for  them  to  play,  but  there  is  a  place,  as 
well  as  a  time  for  that  exercise  ;  that  place  is  not  the  most 
prominent  of  our  public  grounds.  Let  those  public 
grounds  be  adorned  with  trees,  that  when  a  few  years 
hence  you  may  assemble  to  commemorate  the  two  hun- 
dredth anniversary  of  this  town,  you  may  have  before  you 
the  promise  of  future  beauty,  and  when  your  children's 
children  may  assemble  to  commemorate  the  three  hun- 
dredth anniversary,  they  may  rise  up  and  call  you  blessed. 
Above  all,  cherish  piety  in  the  heart,  that  pure,  and 
holy  principle,  which  elevates  the  soul  in  heavenward  as- 
pirations, of  supreme  devotion  to  God,  and  good  will  to 
man.  Then  you  will  be  truly  prepared,  to  enjoy  the  bless- 
ings, which  our  Heavenly  Father  showers  upon  us  here, 
and  look  forward  in  joyful  anticipation,  to  that  rest  which 
he  has  prepared  for  those  who  "  have  washed  their  robes, 
and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  lamb." 


The  following  words  were  sung  by  the  choir : 

"  The  Lord  is  great !  ye  hosts  of  Heaven  adore  him, 
And  ye  who  tread  this  earthly  ball ; 

In  holy  songs  rejoice  aloud  before  him, 
And  shout  his  praise  who  made  you  all. 

The  Lord  is  great — his  majesty  how  glorious  ! 

Resound  his  praise  from  shore  to  shore  ; 
O'er  sin,  and  death,  and  hell,  now  made  victorious, 

He  rules  and  reigns  forevermore. 


70 


The  Lord  is  great — his  mercy  how  abounding  ! 

Ye  angels  strike  your  golden  chords  ! 
Oh  praise  our  Grod  !  with  voice  and  harp  resounding, 

The  Kmg  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords  !" 


Benediction  by  Rev.  D.  Ives,  D.  D. 


FOURTH  DIVISIOISr. 

The  storm  increased  to  such  a  degree  that  the  idea  of 
holding  the  collation  in  the  tent  was  given  up  ;  and  the 
vestry  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  having  been  kindly 
offered  for  the  purpose,  the  procession  was  formed,  and 
proceeded  to  that  place,  where  provision,  the  best  that  cir- 
cumstances would  allow,  had  been  made  ;  the  tables  were 
tastefully  decorated  with  flowers,  and  bountifully  loaded 
with  "  creature  comforts." 

The  President  of  the  day  called  on  Rev.  J.  R.  Miller, 
the  present  pastor  of  the  church,  to  invoke  the  blessing  of 
Grod,  which  he  did  in  the  following  words  : — 

Holy  and  Eternal  Father,  we  adore  Thee  for  Thy  greatness  and 
glory  ;  and  we  love  Thee  for  Thy  condescension  and  grace.  We  ac- 
knowledge with  gratitude  Thy  great  mercies  to  us,  in  granting  us  so 
goodly  an  heritage ;  in  securing  to  us  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
wholesome  laws,  and  institutions  of  learning ;  and  in  giving  us  that 
blessed  hope  through  Thy  dear  Son,  which  adds  to  all  our  other  bless- 
ings the  prospects  of  a  blissful  immortality.  We  thank  Thee  for  the 
good  of  past  years,  and  for  the  prospect  of  good  in  years  to  come.  We 
thank  Thee  for  this  day,  and  these  interesting  services  and  friendly 
greetings.  Let  Thy  blessing  rest  upon  us,  and  upon  the  provision  here 
made  for  our  temporal  wants.  May  this  day  be  crowned  with  Thy 
rich  benediction,  be  greatly  promotive  of  time  religion  in  us,  and 
abundantly  conducive  to  Thine  honor  and  glory,  which  we  ask  in  the 
worthy  name  of  Christ  our  Lord.     Amen. 


n 

After  the  collation,  the  President  said  : 

GrENTLEMEN  AND  Ladies  : — My  positlon  to-day  renders  it  proper 
tliat  I  should  say  a  few  words  in  behalf  of  the  First  Congregational 
Church,  and  of  the  people  generally  of  Suffield.  A  few  months  since, 
a  lady,  a  descendant  of  Rev.  Benjamin  Ruggles,  met  a  gentleman  of 
this  place,  accidentally,  in  the  grave-yard.  She  made  to  him  the 
proffer,  of  twenty-five  dollars  toward  a  monument  for  her  male  ances- 
tor, and  the  repair  of  that  of  his  wife.  This  fact  was  communicated  to 
the  church,  and  very  cordially  entertained.  A  committee  was  appoint- 
ed to  carry  the  project  into  effect.  Hence  the  noble  monument  which 
adorns  our  cemetery  to-day. 

It  has  long  been  in  contemplation  to  revive  the  early  history  of  this 
church  and  town,  for  many  years  very  nearly  identical.  The  gentle- 
man who  has  given  us  the  historical  address  to-day  was  appointed  to 
collect  the  scattered  fragments,  recorded  and  traditional,  into  a  connect- 
ed form.  This  occasion  seemed  a  fitting  one  to  present  to  his  fellow 
townsmen  the  result  of  his  investigations.  The  invitation  was  given 
to  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Suffield,  who  have  gone  out  from  us,  to 
return  and  participate  in  this  celebration.  We  rejoice  that  so  large  a 
number  have  found  it  convenient  with  their  other  engagements  to  re- 
spond to  this  invitation.  We  are  happy  to  see  so  many  from  abroad 
present  to-day. 

In  behalf  of  this  church  and  of  the  citizens  of  Suffield,  I  tender  you 
a  hearty  welcome.  AVe  welcome  you  to  your  native  town.  We  wel- 
come you  to  this  occasion.  And  we  cordially  welcome  you  to  our 
homes  and  to  our  most  cheerful  hospitalities.  Specially  invited  guests, 
who  have  honored  us  with  your  presence,  you  too  we  bid  a  cordial  wel- 
come.    Welcome  all. 

As  I  am  wholly  unaccustomed  to  ]mblic  speaking,  it  will  not  be  ex- 
pected I  shall  trespass  on  your  patience.  Nor  does  it  devolve  upon 
me  to-day  to  make  speeches,  but  to  call  out  others  to  make  them. 
There  are  those  present  to  follow  who  will  both  please  and  instruct. 

The  President  then  presented  the  name  of  Rev.  Joun 
YouNGLOVE ;  the  first  minister  of  Sufiield. 

Mr.  Moses  C.  Younglove  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  respond- 
ed as  follows  : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — Being  an  entire  stranger  among  you, 
and  a  stranger  to  the  scenes  around  me,  I  have  no  personal  sympathies 


72 

or  local  recollections  of  which  I  can  speak.  But  being  a  son  of  the 
Pilgrims,  and  standing  here  among  their  children,  I  can  speak  of  them 
and  of  their  deeds,  and  hope  for  a  response  from  every  heart.  But  I 
should  say  to  you  that  public  speaking  is  not  my  vocation,  and  even 
if  it  were  so,  I  am  unused  to  such  a  presence  as  this — these  gray 
heads,  these  venerable  forms  !  These  admonish  me  that  here  I  should 
keep  silence — that  it  is  far  more  becoming  for  me  to  stand  among  you 
an  humble  listener,  than  to  occupy  this  place  as  a  speaker.  But  this  to 
me  is  a  most  interesting  occasion  ;  my  heart  is  full  of  it,  and  impels 
me  to  add  my  humble  testimony  to  the  accumulated  evidence  of  the 
sterling  virtues  of  the  Puritans. 

In  other  places,  and  on  other  occasions,  I  have  felt  called  upon  to 
defend  their  memories  from  aspersion.  But  here,  standing  among 
their  children,  with  my  feet  mingling  in  their  sacred  dust,  it  would  be 
an  insult  to  their  memories,  and  to  you,  even  to  suppose  that  such  a 
necessity  could  exist. 

Now  if  you  will  travel  back  with  me  through  the  long  vista  of 
years,  to  the  time  when  our  fathers  stood  on  the  ground  which  we  now 
occupy,  and  inaugurated  the  events  we  meet  here  to  commemorate,  we 
can  talk  as  friends,  face  to  face.  One  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago, 
this  church  was  organized.  It  then  first  took  the  form  of  a  visible  in- 
stitution. It  is  true  that  the  good  seed  had  before  been  planted,  and 
had  begun  to  germinate  and  strike  its  tender  roots  into  the  genial  soil 
around — and  the  upward  shoots,  too,  had  begun  to  drink  in  the  genial 
rays  of  God's  love.  But  not  till  then  and  here,  did  our  fathers  begin 
mutually  and  collectively  to  recognize  that  which  was  already  a  living 
fact  in  their  own  hearts.  Not  till  then  did  they  begin  to  dig  around 
it,  and  to  nourish  it  with  their  sympathies,  and  to  strengthen  it  with 
their  prayers. 

For  a  moment  let  us  contrast  the  scenes  which  surrounded  them,  as 
they  stood  on  this  ground  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  and  took 
upon  themselves  their  covenant  vows  and  pledged  themselves  to  each 
other  and  to  God,  to  live  in  accordance  with  those  vows — with  the 
scenes  that  surround  us  here  to-day.  They  were  here  in  the  midst  of 
a  wilderness,  surrounded  by  wild  beasts  and  savage  men.  These  fields 
now  so  productive  and  beautiful,  were  then  covered  with  their  native 
forests.  These  roads  now  so  indurate  and  perfect,  were  but  "trails 
through  the  woods."  Log  huts,  or  at  best,  dwellings  of  the  most 
humble  class,  occupied  the  sites  of  your  beautiful  and  well-furnished 


73 

houses.  No  steam  whistle  broke  the  sflence  of  their  forest  homes  ;  no 
cheerful  church  bell  from  some  neighboring  and  friendly  village, 
awoke  the  echoes  of  their  silent  valleys.  The  lightning  had  not  yet 
been  chained,  and  no  electric  telegraph  flashed  living  thoughts  from 
afar,  to  tell  them  of  the  world  beyond  their  own  quiet  homes.  But 
here  they  stood  alone, — with  God  for  their  God  ;  with  the  blue  firma- 
ment for  their  temple,  and  pledged  themselves  to  build  this  church  on 
that  Rock,  on  which  if  a  man  build,  his  building  shall  stand. 

But  this  was  not  so  strange  a  thing  for  our  fathers  to  do  !  It  was 
just  what  they  were  in  the  habit  of  doing,  indeed  I  may  say,  "  it  was 
just  like  them."  Wherever  they  went,  there  they  built  a  church,  and 
close  by,  nestling  under  its  friendly  shadow,  the  school-house  soon 
found  a  place.  And  these  two  formed  the  broad,  deep  and  strong 
foundation,  on  which  our  institutions  so  firmly  stand. 

And  now,  I  hope  these  Reverend  gentlemen,  and  my  venerable 
friends  here  present,  will  not  charge  me  with  sacrilege,  when  I  assure 
them  that  there  is  a  very  striking  resemblance,  between  our  puritan 
fathers,  and  the  Abrahamic  branch  of  the  holy  family.  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  the  sacred  historian  gives  us  only  the  salient  points  in 
Abraham's  history,  or  only  so  much  as  was  necessary  to  give  a  con- 
nected, complete,  and  correct  history  of  the  church.  Now  if  we  will 
occupy  the  same  stand-point,  and  look  at  the  same  class  of  events,  in 
the  history  of  our  pilgrim  fathers,  we  shall  see  that  there  is  a  very 
close  parallel  between  them.  Abraham  was  a  dweller  in  Mesopotamia, 
a  country  where  his  religion  was  aspersed,  and  where  he  was  not  per- 
mitted to  worship  after  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience ;  and  the 
Lord,  in  his  own  good  time,  determined  to  take  him  out  from  among 
those  heathen  nations,  and  to  establish  through  him,  the  worship  of 
the  true  God.  And  He  said  unto  Abraham,  '"Get  thee  out  of  thy 
country,  and  from  thy  kindred,  and  from  thy  father's  house,  unto  a 
land  that  I  will  shew  thee."  And  Abraham  gathered  together  his 
household  and  all  their  substance,  and  into  the  and  of  Canaan  they 
came,  unto  the  place  of  Sichem,  and  there  huilt  an  altar  unto  the  Lord. 
And  from  thence  he  passed  on  to  "Bethel,"  and  there,  too,  he  huilt 
an  altar  unto  the  Lord,  "  and  called  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord." 
And  in  the  course  of  time  he  came  to  the  plain  of  Mamrc,  and  buiU 
there  an  altar  to  the  Lord ;  and  wherever  Abraham  dwelt,  his  first 
public  act  .was  to  build  an  altar  to  the  Most  High  God,  and  renew  his 
covenant  vows  with  the  Lord.  And  if  you  will  pursue  this  history  a 
10 


u 

little  farther,  you  will  see  that  it  has  a  sequel  full  of  instruction.  May 
we  not  listen  to-day  to  its  teachings  ? 

Many  long  years  after  Abraham  had  built  the  altar  in  Bethel,  Jacob, 
fleeing  through  the  wilderness,  from  before  the  wrathful  face  of  his 
brother,  came  to  this  very  place,  and  while  he  slept  he  dreamed,  and 
beheld  a  ladder  reaching  from  earth  to  heaven  and  the  angels  of 
God  ascending  and  descending  on  it.  This  ladder  was  a  beautiful 
figure  of  the  mediatorial  office  of  Christ.  And  the  figure  will  appear 
still  more  beautiful  if  we  will  adopt  a  more  correct  reading  of  the  pas- 
sage, which  should  be  thus, — "  And  Jacob  saw  a  way  cast  up,  a  high- 
way of  the  Lord — reaching  from  earth  to  heaven,  and  angels  passing 
to  and  fro  thereon." 

Now  may  not  we,  the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  pilgrim  fathers, 
gathered  from  afar  around  this  altar  built  by  them,  may  not  we,  I 
say,  perceive  in  our  hearts  and  souls,  this  day,  that  glorious  high-way 
of  the  Lord  cast  up  for  our  salvation — even  Christ  Jesus  V 

But  to  return  to  the  pilgrims.  They  were  dwellers  in  a  land  where 
their  religion  was  held  in  contempt,  and  where  they  were  not  permitted 
to  worship  God  after  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences.  And  God 
determined  in  his  own  good  time  to  take  them  out  from  among  their 
revilers  and  persecutors,  and  to  place  them  in  a  land  free  and  fresh 
from  his  own  hand,  untrod  by  the  oppressor's  foot,  and  unstained  by 
the  martyr's  blood.  And  he  said  to  their  hearts,  get  thee  out  of 
this  land,  from  thy  father's  house  and  from  thy  kindred,  into  a  land 
that  I  will  show  thee.  And  they  gathered  together  their  wives,  their 
little  ones,  and  their  scanty  substance,  and  they  came  into  the  land. 
And  now  mark  the  history.  Their  first  act  was  to  build  an  altar  to 
the  Lord,  and  there  on  the  bleak  rocks,  they  renewed  their  covenant 
vows,  and  pledged  themselves  and  theirs  to  the  Lord's  service ;  and 
wherever  they  moved  in  the  land  and  fixed  their  dwellings,  there  they 
built  an  altar  to  the  Lord.  And  when,  in  the  course  of  time,  they 
came  to  this  spot,  here  too,  they  built  an  altar  to  the  Most  High  God ; 
and  this  day  around  that  altar  we  stand. 

Our  pilgrim  fathers  were  rather  a  remarkable  race  of  men,  as  com- 
pared with  the  men  of  the  present  day.  They  were  higher-law  men — 
stern  and  uncompromising  in  matters  of  principle — no  political  party 
had  their  consciences  in  keeping.  They  took  the  Lord  for  their  God, 
and  his  law  for  their  law.  Their  religion  was  an'  every  day  religion. 
It  bore  exportation  and  transportation ;  whether  tossed  on  the  billows 


75 

of  the  Atlantic  or  wandering  in  the  wilderness  of  America,  it  was  the 
same.  They  were  wise,  far-seeing  men,  and  lived  not  for  themselves 
and  their  generation  alone — as  the  beautiful  villages  of  New  England, 
with  their  broad  streets  and  their  wide  spreading  trees,  bear  ample 
testimony.  Their  provisions  for  a  religious  and  common  school  educa- 
tion, are  also  evidences  of  their  far  seeing  beneficence.  Their  laws 
were  simple,  just  and  equitable  ;  having  God's  word — not  merely  in 
theory  hut  in  fact — for  their  model.  In  short,  whatever  they  did, 
was  done  for  the  establishing  and  building  up  of  the  nation  which  they 
had  planted. 

But  you  will  expect  me  to  say  something  of  your  first  ministers. 

Of  Mr.  Ruggles,  of  course,  I  can  say  nothing,  as  I  know  nothing  of 
his  history.  And  of  ray  paternal  ancestor  I  know  but  little.  Yet 
that  he  was  a  puritan  minister,  and  lived  and  died  here,  I  do  know. 
That  he  had  preceding  generations,  we  have  no  written  testimony, 
but  that  he  had  succeeding  generations,  I  stand  here  before  you  to-day 
a  living  witness.  The  time  of  his  settlement,  and  his  death  ;  the 
births,  names  and  deaths  of  his  children,  are  found  in  your  town  and 
church  records. 

But  of  the  puritan  ministers  generally,  I  can  say  truly,  that  they 
were  a  noble  race  of  men.  They  were  God's  noblemen  ;  knighted  by 
no  earthly  king,  but  by  the  King  of  kings.  And  perhaps  I  cannot 
better  convey  to  you  my  estimation  of  their  worth  than  to  tell  you 
what  I  wrote  to  a  kinsman  who  said  he  had  traced  our  ancestors  to 
a  puritan  minister,  and  was  pushing  hi.s  enquiries  into  England,  to 
learn  where  in  that  realm  they  came  from.  I  begged  him  to  desist, 
fearing  that  he  might  run  us  into  some  noble  house.  As  for  me,  I  was 
satisfied  with  being  descended  from  a  puritan  minister.  That  was  no- 
bility enough. 

The  President  next  presented  the  name  of  Rev.  Ben- 
jamin RuGGLES  ;  first  pastor  of  the  fi/st  church  in  Suffield, 
and  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  anniversary  of  whose 
death  we  were  commemorating.  Rev.  Aratus  Kent  of 
Galena,  Illinois,  who  was  expected  to  respond,  being  under 
the  necessity  of  leaving  before  this  time,  no  response  was 
made.  The  President  next  presented  the  name  of  Rev. 
Ebenezer  Devotion  ;  second  pastor  of  this  church. 


Y6 

Col.  John  L.  Devotion  of  Norwich,  Connecticut,  re- 
sponded as  follows : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — It  has  seldom,  and,  I  think  I  may 
safely  say,  never  been  my  lot  to  be  present  on  an  occasion  more  truly 
interesting,  than  the  one  which  has  brought  me  among  you  to  partici- 
pate in  the  inauguration  of  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  Rev. 
Benjamin  Ruggles.  And  here  allow  me  to  thank  you  for  the  invita- 
tion which  your  Committee  extended  to  me,  and  since  the  receipt  of 
which,  I  have  experienced  not  a  little  of  that  wild  delight  which  chil- 
dren feel  in  looking  forward  to  the  arrival  of  some  cherished  holiday. 

The  name  of  your  beautiful  town  is  associated  with  my  earliest  rec- 
ollections ;  and  I  have  long  desired  that  an  opportunity  might  be 
presented  which  would  enable  me  to  view  the  resting  place  of  a  worthy 
progenitor.  The  erection  of  a  monument  to  commemorate  your  first 
pastor  is  a  noble  enterprise  ;  one  which  I  would  like  to  see  imitated  by 
other  towns,  until  all  our  cemeteries  shall  have  such  endearing  memo- 
rials of  the  departed.  In  yonder  cemetery  are  deposited  the  ashes  of 
a  venerable  ancestor.  More  than  a  century  has  passed  since  many  of 
your  ancestors  stood  around  his  grave,  to  pay  the  last  tribute  of  affec- 
tion to  their  departed  pastor.  To  you  is  entrusted  the  guardianship 
of  those  sacred  remains  ;  let  no  ruthless  hand  desecrate  his  grave,  or 
disturb  his  quiet  repose.  As  we  turn  from  the  interesting  exercises  of 
the  day,  let  ue  not  forget  to  invoke  the  blessing  of  God  on  the  work, 
and  ask  that  his  watchful  care  and  guidance  may  be  continued  over  us 
to  our  lives'  end. 

The  President  next  gave  the  name  of  Rev.  Ebenezer 
Gay,  D.  D.  ;  third  pastor  of  the  church,  and  the  name  of 
Rev.  Ebenezer  Gay,  Jr.,  his  colleague,  and  afterward  his 
successor  to  the  pastoral  office. 

Rev.  Henry  Robinson  made  the  following  response : 

No  male  descendant  of  t)r.  Gay,  bearing  the  family  name,  is  living 
to  respond  to  the  call  now  made.  There  are  among  you,  female  de- 
scendants, retaining  the  name ;  but  as  they  defer  to  the  gentlemen  in 
the  matter  of  public  speaking,  it  seems  to  devolve  on  some  of  us,  who 
do  not  bear  the  name,  but  have  borne  away  those  who  did,  to  say 
something  on  the  present  occasion. 

My  impressions  of  Dr.  Gay  are  taken  chiefly  from  his  friend,  Rev. 


77 

Dr.  Lathrop  of  West  Springfield,  who  says,  in  a  sennon  preached  at 
his  funeral,  "  Dr.  Gay  was  an  able  and  learned  divine;  a  scribe  well 
instructed  into  the  kingdom  of  Grod.  The  doctrines  of  grace  were  con- 
spicuous in  his  discourses.  He  preached  them  abundantly,  and 
preached  them  in  the  apostolic  manner.  He  was  a  wise  and  judicious 
counsellor.  In  conversation  he  was  pleasant  and  instructive,  and 
sometimes  agreeably  facetious  and  innocently  humorous."  Some  anec- 
dotes, illustrative  of  this  last  trait  in  his  character,  have  ■come  down  to 
us,  one  of  which  may  here  be  given. 

It  seems  that  candidates  for  settlement  in  the  ministry  were  sub- 
jected to  a  rigid  scrutiny  from  the  people  in  Dr.  Gay's  time,  as  they 
have  been  ever  since.  None  of  them  were  exactly  right.  They  were 
too  long  or  too  short,  too  thick  or  too  thin.  This  last  was  the  objec- 
tion against  Dr.  Gay.  Though  in  latter  years  he  was  rather  corpulent, 
in  early  life  he  was  very  slender.  It  began  to  be  whispered  among 
the  people,  that  the  candidate  was  too  spare — his  legs  were  too  small 
— there  was  not  enough  of  him  to  answer  their  purpose.  Finding 
which  way  things  were  tending  in  the  parish,  and  not  being  quite  will- 
ing to  "  go  by  weight,"  he  came  out  with  a  sermon  from  the  text,  "  He 
taketh  ?iot  pleasure  in  the  legs  of  a  man.^^  It  proved  a  sermon  for 
the  times.  The  disturbance  was  quieted.  The  candidate  was  harmo- 
niously settled,  and  enjoyed,  in  the  main,  a  prosperous  ministry. 

Rev.  Ebenezer  Gay,  Jr.,  my  honored  father-in-law,  was  a  fine 
scholar,  having  graduated  at  Yale  in  1787,  with  the  first  honors  of  his 
class,  and  having  been  two  years  tutor  in  the  college.  He  studied 
theology  chiefly  with  Dr.  Dana  of  New  Haven,  and  his  cotemporaries 
testify,  that  in  his  youth,  he  was  a  very  popular  preacher.  From  1793 
to  18*26  he  had  charge  of  the  Congregational  Church  here  ;  the  first 
three  years  as  colleague  with  his  father.  The  pastorates  of  father  and 
son  extended  through  a  period  of  eighty-four  years. 

Mr.  Gay  did  much  for  the  cause  of  education,  preparing  young  men 
for  college  and  for  the  various  departments  of  business.  He  was  a 
warm  friend  of  his  country,  and  earnestly  sought  its  welfare.  He  was 
given  to  hospitality.  His  heart  was  full  of  sympathy  for  the  dis- 
tressed and  his  hand  was  ever  open  for  their  relief.  He  was  social  in 
his  feelings,  and  instructive  and  entertaining  in  conversation.  In  the 
domestic  relations  he  was  kind  and  exemplary.  The  closing  scene 
with  him  was  calm  and  peaceful,  and  he  left  the  world  with  a  hope 
full  of  immortality. 


78 

William  Gay,  Esq.,  the  younger  son  of  Dr.  Gay,  after  graduating 
at  Yale,  settled  in  this  town  as  a  lawyer.  Here  he  passed  a  long  and 
useful  life,  filling  several  important  offices  with  honor  to  himself  and 
benefit  to  the  community.*  The  religion  of  Christ  crowned  his  later 
years,  and  sustained  him  in  the  final  conflict.  His  two  sons  were 
called  away  before  him  ;  one  in  childhood,  the  other,  William  C.  Gay, 
Esq.,  in  early  manhood,  to  the  great  sorrow  of  relatives  and  friends. 

The  two  daughters  of  Dr.  Gay  were  married  ;  one  to  Timothy 
Swan  Esq.,  of  Northfield,  Mass.,  the  other,  successively  to  David 
Bronson,  Esq.,  of  Sufiield,  and  Benjamin  Swan,  Esq.,  of  Wood.stock, 
Vt.f  Their  descendants  are  somewhat  numerous  and  occupy  impor- 
tant places  in  society. 

A  word  in  reference  to  the  past  and  present  of  Sufiield,  and  I  have 
done.  I  have  spoken  of  the  efforts  of  Rev.  Ebenezer  Gay,  Jr.,  in  the 
cause  of  education,  and  in  teaching  a  select  school  for  the  benefit  of 
the  youth  of  his  time.  Now  the  Connecticut  Literary  Institute 
adorns  your  beautiful  town,  furnishing  in  its  spacious  buildings,  its 
able  corps  of  teachers  and  its  various  appliances,  distinguished  facili- 
ties for  the  education  of  youth ;  and  which  during  the  quarter  of  a 
century  of  its  existence,  has  trained  great  numbers  for  a  collegiate 
course,  and  for  professional  and  business  life. 

We  have  been  told  in  the  historical  discourse,  that  Rev.  John 
Younglove,  who  first  preached  the  gospel  in  this  town,  had  his  habita- 
tion on  or  near  the  place  where  we  are  met.  It  is  enough  to  invest 
the  spot  with  a  character  of  sacredness,  that  a  faithful  minister  of 
Christ  here  lived,  and  labored,  and  committed  his  departing  spirit  into 
the  hands  of  his  Savior.  But  here  is  now  a  house  of  God,  where  as- 
sembles from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath,  one  of  the  largest  churches  in  the 
state,  consisting  of  more  than  six  hundred  members,  and  where  have 
been  witnessed  remarkable  displays  of  divine  power  and  grace  in  the 
conversion  of  souls. 

In  these  and  other  evidences  of  progress  in  matters  of  the  highest 
moment,  and  of  the  favor  of  God  toward  this  town,  I  sincerely  rejoice. 
I  can  never  cease  to  feel  a  deep  interest  in  Suffield.  The  scenes 
through  which  I  passed,  during  the  six  years  of  my  pastorate  in  the 
Congregational  Church  are  indelibly  stamped  on  my  heart.     The  re- 

*  He  was  postmaster  in  Suffield  36  years. 

t  Mr.  Benjamia  Swan  was  Treasurer  of  Vermont  32  years,  and  Clerk  of  the  Courts 
42  years. 


79 

unions  and  reminiscences  of  this  day  have  only  rendered  those  scenes 
more  fresh  and  vivid,  the  recollection  of  which  will  never  fade  from  my 
memory. 

The  President  gave  several  sentiments,  wliicli  follow, 
with  the  responses  given : 

SENTIMENT. 
"  While  we  commemorate  the  virtues,  and  honor  the  memory  of  the 
distinguished  dead,  we  cherish  with  unabated  affection  their  livinn^  suc- 
cessors  in  the  pastoral  office  of  this  church,  all  of  whom  have  done  us 
the  honor  to  be  present  on  this  occasion." 

Response  of  Rev.  Joel  Mann. 

The  present  commemorative  occasion  is  both  a  pleasing  and  a  sad- 
dening one.  Such  in  fact  is  the  nature  of  almost  all  retrospections  of 
the  past,  both  in  regard  to  ourselves  and  others.  It  is  pleasing  to 
stand  among  those  for  whose  spiritual  welfare  I  performed  a  brief  min- 
istry, some  of  whom  continue  to  the  present.  It  is  delightful  to  look 
upon  their  faces,  and  exchange  greetings  with  them  after  the  lapse  of 
nearly  thirty  years.  But  it  is  saddening  to  call  to  mind  those  with 
whom  we  have  taken  sweet  counsel,  who  have  finished  their  labors 
and  passed  away  from  the  earth.  Their  removal  from  the  world  gives 
a  monitory  lesson  to  us  and  impresses  our  minds  with  the  brevity  of 
life,  and  the  transitoriness  of  all  earthly  things. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  be  associated  in  the  pastorate  here  with  a 
venerable  servant  of  God  who  had  long  been  a  watchman  on  this  por- 
tion of  Zion,  the  second  Mr.  Gay ;  a  man  of  genial  spirit,  given  to 
hospitality,  a  man  of  faith  and  prayer.  His  love  to  the  people  of  his 
charge  led  him  to  make  large  sacrifices  for  their  good ;  and  I  doubt 
not  that  this  people  cherish  his  memory  with  affection,  and  that  his 
children  are  loved  for  the  father's  sake  as  well  as  for  their  own.  The 
seed  of  the  righteous  is  blessed. 

Though  my  ministry  was  short,  extending  to  about  three  years,  and 
though  it  was  in  various  respects  defective,  it  was  attended  with  saving 
results  to  some.  A  precious  visitation  of  the  Holy  Spirit  at  one  time, 
wrought,  as  it  was  believed,  the  conversion  of  about  thirty,  some  of 
whom  still  live  to  pray  and  labor  for  the  holy  cause,  which  is  dear  to 
the  hearts  of  those  wjio  love  Christ. 

That  was  a  kind  of  transition    period  from   the   staid,  uniform,  quiet 


80 

mode  of  operation  both  by  ministers  and  churches,  to  the  adoption  of 
what  were  called  new  measures,  and  with  these  the  putting  forth  of 
greater  efforts, — the  multiplication  of  religious  meetings,  and  extra 
means  for  the  conversion  of  men.  Protracted  services  like  those  of 
the  Sabbath  were  soon  after  introduced,  continuing  for  several  succes- 
sive days  and  even  weeks.  Christians  awoke  to  a  greater  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility to  God  and  men,  and  to  greater  prayerfulness  and  zeal. 
They  consecrated  themselves  anew  to  the  service  of  Christ — shook  off 
their  formality,  and  commenced  a  course  of  action  more  accordant  with 
their  vows.  Many  were  alarmed  by  these  new  measures,  and  augured 
disastrous  effects  to  the  cause  of  religion,  and  the  purity  of  the  churches. 
Many  were  unwilling  to  admit  that  sinners  could  be  soundly  converted 
so  suddenly ;  and  that  such  large  numbers  could  be  safely  added  to 
the  churches  by  such  a  summary  process.  They  thought  that  the  old 
way  of  coming  along  into  religion  by  degrees,  was  a  safer  way.  Well, 
it  has  been  shown,  that  the  Lord  knows  how  to  do  his  own  work,  and 
it  is  not  best  for  us  to  be  over  anxious  to  steady  the  ark,  but  commit 
the  keeping  of  it  to  his  care.  It  should  be  observed,  however,  that 
the  conservatism  of  those  to  whom  I  have  alluded,  was  caused  by  their 
love  to  the  church,  and  their  desire  for  its  welfare.  The  law  of 
progress  was  not  so  fully  comprehended  by  them  perhaps  as  by  those 
who  have  come  after  them. 

We  seem  to  have  come  to  the  commencement  of  another  era, 
which  is  unfolding  more  clearly  the  duties  of  ministers  and  churches  in 
regard  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  The  dispensations  of  divine  grace 
are  teaching  us  new  lessons  ;  and  are  showing  that  every  member  of 
the  household  of  faith  has  much  to  do  for  its  prosperity  at  home  an 
abroad. 

Here  the  speaker  alluded  to  the  recent  revivals,  and  the 
daily  prayer  meetings,  which  had  been  a  chief  instrumen- 
tality in  beginning  them  and  carrying  them  on.  He  al- 
luded also  to  his  ancestry,  and  remarked  that  he  was  de- 
scended from  Richard  Mann,  who  came  in  the  May  Flow- 
er, and  was  one  of  those  who  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock. 
Having  expressed  his  reverence  for  the  good  and  great 
who  have  gone  to  their  eternal  reward,  he  exhorted  all  to 
be  followers  of  those  who  through  faith  •  and  patience  in- 
herit the  promises. 


81 

Response  of  Rev.  A.  C.  Washburn. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  impossible  for  me  fully  to  express  my  feelings 
on  this  present  occasion.  Nor  need  I  make  the  attempt.  For  in  con- 
nection with  this  sumptuous  feast  there  has  been  such  an  overflowing 
of  rich  thought,  and  of  varied  and  appropriate  sentiment  tliat  surely  this 
audience  must  be  well  nigh  surfeited,  and  perhaps  would  long  since 
have  cried  "  enough  "  had  not  the  benevolent  Creator  bestowed  upon 
them  in  large  measure,  pliysical  and  mental  power.  Yet  I  ask  their 
indulgence  while  I  briefly  reciprocate  the  kind  and  aflfectionate  senti- 
ments you  have  uttered,  as  their  organ,  in  relation  to  former  pastors 
of  this  church. 

I  thank  you  for  the  opportunity  of  expressing  the  pleasure  I  feel  in 
recalling  scenes  of  thrilling  interest  through  which  I  have  here  passed. 
Here  I  found,  and  still  find,  friends  whose  friendship  it  is  no  sin  for  a 
mortal  creature  to  covet.  Alas  !  many,  0  how  many,  we  meet  here 
no  more.  It  was  my  happiness  to  labor  here  during  four  sea.sons  of 
special  revival,  and  dui-ing  the  fourteen  years  of  my  pastorate  more  than 
two  hundred  were  added  to  the  church.  It  was  also  my  privilege  to 
be  instrumental  in  promoting  the  happiness  of  many  in  matters  some- 
what less  spiritual,  but  not  less  talked  of  in  most  circles.  During  my 
ministry  here,  I  joined  in  marriage  one  hundred  and  seventy  couple, 
and  I  know  not  that  in  any  instance  the  knot  has  slipped,  or  that  any 
one  of  that  happy  number  ever  desired  to  break  the  bond.  Not  a  few 
I  see  here  to-day,  who  are  competent  witnesses  in  this  matter. 

In  recalling  the  friendships  of  by-gone  days,  I  love  to  dwell  on 
that  brotherly  union  and  christian  affection  ever  manifested  towards  me 
here,  by  ministers  of  other  denominations.  And  happy  am  I  to  learn, 
that  this  broth^jrly  feeling  still  exists,  so  that  when  the  rain  was  coming 
down  this  morning  in  torrents,  and  your  arrangements  for  meeting  in  a 
great  tent  were  likely  to  be  frustrated,  the  pastor  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  with  the  cordial  approbation  of  his  people,  promptly  oflTered 
the  use  of  this  spacious  room,  their  vestry,  where  we  are  comfortably 
sheltered  from  the  pelting  storm.  God  grant  that  this  christian  union 
may  never  be  sundered  ! 

I  rejoice  to  find  the  people  of  my  former  charge  so  happily  united 
in  my  successor.  And  in  this  connection  permit  me,  sir,  to  recall  a 
thought  of  great  practical  value,   brought  out  to-day  in  the  historical 

11 


82 

address,  viz.,  The  dismission  of  ministers  does  not  always  settle  dif- 
ficulties in  churches.      There  is  a  better  way. 

Some  gentlemen  have  alluded  in  very  appropriate  terms  to  their 
honorable  ancestry.  Ancestors  are  all  honorable  men,  and  I  presume 
mine  were  equal  to  the  best  of  them,  though  my  acquaintance  with 
them  is  somewhat  limited.  I  do  not  know  that  any  of  them  ever  fell 
from  a  platform  and  broke  their  neck,  when  addressing  a  multitude. 
Perhaps  some  of  them  have  deserved  that  fate,  though  I  have  never 
known  one,  bearing  my  name,  ever  sent  to  prison.  And  I  do  know 
that  many  of  that  name,  which  is  becoming  quite  common  in  our 
country,  have  made  good  ministers,  lawyers,  doctors,  judges,  congress- 
men, and  governors  ;  and  if  there  are  not  some  of  the  same  sort  left, 
I  presume  there  will  be  many  in  due  time.  But,  sir,  I  will  stop  lest 
you  mistake  my  design,  and  think  I  am  trying  to  make  a  speech. 

Permit  me  to  renew  my  thanks  for  the  affectionate  reception  I  have 
met  here  to-day,  and  which  I  ahvays  meet  among  this  beloved  people. 
And,  sir,  if  you  and  they  enjoy  the  Divine  Benediction,  and  prosper 
according  to  the  sincere  desire  of  my  heart,  this  will  evermore  be  indeed 
a  happy  people. 

Response  of  Rev.  J.  R.  Miller, 

Mr.  President,  the  sentiment  has  effected,  what  I  suppose  was  de- 
signed, to  bring  out  the  former  surviving  pastors  who  had  not  spoken 
in  the  proceedings  of  this  day.  A  few  words  from  the  present  pastor, 
for  himself  and  people,  seem  in  place.  "We  rejoice  to  meet  here  to-day 
those  who  have  occupied  our  places  before  us,  to  greet  them,  and  hear 
their  voices.  We  are  made  glad  by  the  presence  of  those  who  have 
left  this  their  native  home  to  seek  their  fortunes  and  serve  their  God 
elsewhere.  We  cannot  yield  to  any  in  the  interest  taken  in  this  day's 
transactions.  For  we  assure  them  that  while  others  come  excited  by 
old  scenes  and  recollections  and  associations,  we  feel  animated  by  the 
present  realities;  while  the  past  was  theirs,  the  present  is  ours ;  its 
joys,  its  anxieties,  and  its  responsibilities.  For  this  day  we  have 
j^anned,  and  labored,  and  provided,  and  prayed,  and  felt  solicitude. 
We  have  done  what  we  could.  And  now  our  hearts  are  full.  Nor 
c^n  we  yield  to  any  in  our  attachment  to  SuflBeld.  Its  beauties  are  to 
us,  not  the  beauties  of  a  place  we  have  left  for  other  attractions,  but 
those  of  a  v\^c,e  to  which  we  have  still  fondly  clung  as  dear  above  all, 


83 

or  for  which  we  have  left  other  scenes  that  we  might  adopt  it  as  our 
own.  We  call  it  our  home.  We  look  out  upon  its  broad  and  pleasant 
fields,  and  rejoice  in  them  as  the  heritage  in  which  our  lot  is  cast,  and 
feel  that  our  lines  are  fallen  in  pleasant  places.  Its  hi.story  is  dear, 
and  we  will  seek  to  perpetuate  it.  Its  interests  are  dear,  and  we  will 
strive  to  preserve  them.  And  now  as  we  stand  in  the  light  which  this 
day  casts  upon  it,  and  consider  the  worthies  that  have  here  lived  and  la- 
bored before  us,  a  new  sense  of  responsibility  is  felt.  Surely,  we  have 
something  to  do,  and  strive  for,  in  emulation  of  their  virtues. 

We  will  not  speak  of  our  past  works,  except,  for  the  information  of 
others,  to  say,  that  the  results,  through  the  blessing  of  God,  will  not 
compare  unfavorably  with  any  who  have  preceded  us.  We  stand 
to-day  united  and  strong.  And  while  we  think  we  stand  we  would 
mind  the  admonition  to  take  heed  lest  we  fall.  Our  hope  and  trust  is 
in  God.  He  is  able  to  keep  us  from  falling.  But  left  of  him,  our  pride, 
or  self-will,  or  folly  would  soon  cast  us  down.  The  Lord  has  blessed 
us  greatly,  and  is  blessing  us  still ;  and  our  earnest  prayer  is  that  we 
may  so  labor  and  be  faithful  unto  the  end,  that  men  may  be  ever  able 
to  adopt  concerning  us  the  language  of  the  last  sentiment. 

SENTIMENT. 
"  The  Fathers  in  the  Christian  Ministry,  the  pioneers  in  planting 
churches,  schools,  academies,  and   colleges ;  where  are  they  V     They 
have  their  living  representatives  here  to-day." 

Response  of  Rev.  Daniel  Waldo,  in  his  ninety-seventh 
year. 

To  give  all  the  reminiscences  of  ninety  years  would  fill  a  folio.  A 
few  will  suffice.  The  churches  were  often  taught  within  my  memory 
by  those  who  knew  less  than  their  hearers  ;  and  schools  were  taught 
by  those  who  made  two  syllables  of  ton-gue.  Dilworth's  grammar  and 
spelling-book  were  the  only  ones  in  use.  The  immortal  Noah  Web- 
ster soon  dispelled  the  darkness  that  brooded  over  the  land.  At  the 
close  of  the  Revolution  many  sought  a  liberal  education  ;  and  science 
soon  began  to  be  sown  broadcast  over  our  land.  Common  schools  be- 
gan to  have  competent  teachers,  for  all  business  and  social  intercourse. 
Academies  were  established  in  all  our  villages  of  note.  Colleges  have 
become  almost  as  numerous  as  common  schools  a  hundred  and  fifty 


84 

years  ago.  As  science  increased,  the  Bible  was  more  highly  esteemed, 
not  only  for  its  pure  morality,  but  as  the  best  book  to  make  the  hest 
reader.  Could  Dr.  Mathews'  Bible  and  Civil  Government,  and  his 
Connection  of  Science  and  Religion  be  universally  read  by  all  persons 
of  intelligence,  this  world  of  bloody  wickedness  would  soon  be  paradise 

regained. 

SENTIMENT. 

"  The  city  of  Hartford — distinguished  for  its  fine  churches,  and  elo- 
quent preachers,  its  humane  institutions,  its  antiquaries,  and  its  ora- 
tors ;  has  honored  us  by  the  presence  of  some  of  its  distinguished  rep- 
resentatives on  this  occasion." 

Mr,  Joseph  E.  Hawley  responded. 

SENTIMENT. 
"  The  Great  West — the   adopted   home  of  many  of  the   sons   and 
daughters  of  Suffield,  is  honorably  represented  here  to-day,  by  our 
own  son — the  orator  of  the  day." 

Not  responded  to. 

SENTIMENT. 
"  The  parson  and  the  poet — an  honored  son  of  West  Suffield — the 
author  of  the  original  hymn  for  the  occasion." 

Not  responded  to. 

SENTIMENT. 

"  The  Connecticut  Literary  Institute,  as  an  ornament  to  the  town, 
and  a  hand-maid  to  the  christian  church — may  it  fully  answer  the  de- 
sire of  its  friends — that  our  sons  may  be  as  plants  grown  in  their 
youth,  and  that  our  daughters  may  be  polished  after  the  similitude  of 
a  palace." 

Dr.  Ives,  pastor  of  the  Second  Baptist  Church  said,  that 
since  the  President  of  the  day  had  alluded  to  the  offer 
made  of  the  vestry,  in  which  to  have  the  collation,  on  ac- 
count of  the  storm,  he  wished  to  say,  it  was  voluntarily 
•and  cordially  offered.  As  it  respected  the  institution,  Mr. 
Pratt,  the  Principal,  was  present  and  could  speak  for  that. 
It  was  an  object  dear  to  his  heart.  He  felt  that  its  influ- 
ence had  been  good,  and  mshed  its  future  advancement. 


85 

It  was  iu  a  flourishing  conditiou — liad  an  able  and  efficient 
board  of  instructors — and  efforts  were  being  made  to  re- 
lieve it  of  an  embarrassing  debt,  whicii  lie  felt  would  be 
successful. 

He  said,  that  this  was  a  day  in  wiiich  he  had  taken  great 
interest ;  he  might  say,  that  it  was  one  of  the  happiest  of 
his  life.  He  felt  proud  of  the  historian  of  the  day.  He 
could  but  admire  the  manner  in  which  he  handled  those 
exceedingly  delicate  matters  pertaining  to  the  separation 
of  the  church.  In  speaking  of  those  things,  (as  fidelity 
required  him  to  speak  of  them,)  it  was  truly  gratifying  to 
see  with  what  candor  and  impartiality  they  were  treated. 
He  felt  that  a  noble  example  was  given  for  the  imitation 
of  other  historians,  who  had  not  always  exhibited  the  like 
unbiased  and  unprejudiced  feelings  toward  those  of  an- 
other name. 

Mr.  Pratt,  Principal  of  the  institution,  said,  that  he  had 
not  expected  to  be  called  upon  for  a  speech.  As  it  re- 
spected the  sentiment,  he  would  express  his  thanks ;  and 
as  the  Doctor  had  spoken  a  few  words  relative  to  the  insti- 
tution, perhaps  tliat  would  do  for  the  response.  He  would 
say  however,  that  he  felt  the  influence  of  the  institution 
upon  the  town  to  be  good.  He  thought  its  influence  in 
time  past  had  been  good.  It  formed  a  band  of  union. 
The  young  people  of  both  societies  were  educated  there ; 
and  so  a  common  interest  was  felt  in  its  welfare  and  pros- 
perity. And  those  feeling  an  interest  in  the  same  object, 
are  likely  to  have  kinder  feelings  towards  each  other.  He 
had  been  much  interested  in  the  services  of  the  day,  and 
felt  that  they  would  have  a  beneficial  influence. 

Rev.  Daniel  Hemenway,  spoke  in  confirmation  of  what 
the  two  preceding  speakers  had  said.  He  regarded  the 
influence  of  the  institution  as  salutary.  He  desired  to  see  it 
prosper  even  beyond  its  present  prosperity.  He  regretted 
that  it  was  burdened  with  so  great  a  debt.  He  felt  that 
there  were  those  who  were  abundantly  able  to  relieve  it, 


86 

and  he  hoped  and  trusted  that  the  earnest  effort  would  be 
made,  and  prove  successful. 

SENTIMENT. 

' '  The  ladies  of  Suffield — though  not  represented  on  this  occasion  by 
speakers,  have  represented  themselves  by  works  which  cost  more  and 
taste  sweeter  than  words." 

An  opportunity  being  given  for  voluntaiy  addresses. 
Judge  Huntington,  of  Washington,  said : 

When  I  received  the  invitation  of  the  Committee  to  attend  here 
to-day,  I  felt  that  official  duties  at  Washington  would  render  my  com- 
pliance with  that  invitation  impossible.  But  so  strong  was  my  desire 
to  be  present  upon  this  occasion,  that  official  duties,  however  pressing, 
have  been  postponed,  and  I  have  traveled  some  four  hundred  miles 
or  more,  for  the  sole  object  of  uniting  with  some  of  the  associates  of 
my  boyhood,  and  the  present  inhabitants  of  my  native  town  in  this 
interesting  commemoration. 

It  is  a  praise-worthy  object  which  has  brought  us  together ;  and  al- 
low me  here  in  the  outset  to  remark,  that  whatever  diversity  of  religious 
creeds  may  prevail  among  us  at  the  present  day,  we  stand  here  to  a 
certain  extent  as  the  representatives  of  our  ancestors,  in  their  religious 
character.  And  as  they  were  all  congregationalists,  we  therefore,  for 
the  occasion,  should  ourselves,  be  congregationalists.  In  commemorat- 
ing the  erection  of  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  their  first  pastor, 
upon  this  one  hundred-and-fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  death,  we  do  as 
they  would  have  done,  could  they  have  carried  out  their  wishes  at  the 
time  ;  and  thus  all  are  acting  for  them,  and  by  respecting  their  senti- 
ments, we  honor  their  memories  and  thus  bring  ourselves  within  the 
benefit  of  the  "  first  commandment  with  promise." 

It  is  an  occasion  too,  on  which  we  can,  with  propriety,  indulge  in 
that  peculiar  pleasure  which .  arises  from  a  revival  of  our  earliest  recol- 
lections. The  scenes — the  hopes  and  the  joys — the  little  trials  and 
disappointments — all  tjiat  make  up  the  history  of  our  childhood  are  en- 
graven deeply  on  our  hearts — ^they  are  written  indelibly  there.  The 
events  of  our  maturer  or  declining  years  often  pass  off  with  the  day  of 
their  occurrence;  the  incidents  of  yesterday  are  forgotten  to-day;  and 
those  of  to-day  will  pass  into  oblivion  to-morrow.  Mingled  as  they  are 
with  the  strife,  the  emulation  and  the  rivalry  of  business — the  tur- 


»7 

moil  and  the  contention  of  life — we  are  willing  to  forget  them.  Not  so 
with  our  early  life.  Its  history  is  interwoven  with  our  purest,  our 
warmest,  our  holiest  affections — with  the  love  for  our  parents,  for  our 
brothers  and  sisters — with  the  attachment  to  our  playmates,  and  with 
all  these  hallowed  memories  which  cluster  around  the  unbroken  family 
circle ;  and  therefore  it  is,  that  we  love  to  revisit  the  scenes  and  to  re- 
call the  events  of  that  history. 

With  my  school-mate,  to  whose  sermon  we  have  listened  to-day, 
with  so  much  interest  and  satisfaction,  my  memory  runs  back  some 
fifty  years  or  more  ;  more  than  forty-five  years  ago  I  parted  with  him 
— a  ruddy,  handsome,  bright-eyed  youth — and  have  not  seen  him  since, 
until  I  entered  the  church  this  morning  and  saw  the  venerable  preach- 
er in  your  pulpit.  The  incidents,  and  the  old  men  of  his  childhood, 
alluded  to  by  him,  are  quite  distmct  in  my  memory.  I  well  recollect, 
too,  the  "  Old  Porch  House," — the  first  parsonage— on  the  site  of 
which,  this  day's  exercises  were  commenced.  I  believe  I  am  the  only 
living  person  bom  in  that  house, — the  only  tie,  therefore,  between  it  and 
the  living  successors  of  those  who  erected  it.  It  had  of  course,  ceased  to 
be  the  parsonage  when  my  parents  occupied  it  at  the  commencement  of 
their  manned  life.  It  stood  a  rod  or  two  back  from  the  highway — two 
stories  high — the  upper  projecting  perhaps  a  foot  or  so,  over  the  lower 
— with  a  large  porch  in  front,  also  two  stories  high,  and  what  was 
called  a  "  lean-to  "  in  the  rear.  I  remember  well  an  old  pear  tree^ 
the  old  fashioned  bell-pear— standing  a  few  rods  back  from  the  house, 
within  what  was  probably  once  the  garden  of  the  parsonage.  And 
as  it  was  quite  an  old  tree  in  appearance  when  I  was  a  child,  it  was 
doubtless  originally  planted  there  by  the  hand  of  one  t)f  the  good  men 
who  occupied  the  house  as  a  parsonage.  A  pear  from  that  tree  was  a 
choice  acquisition.  The  tree  is  gone  ;  but  the  old  elms,  probably 
planted  by  the  same  hand,  still  stand  in  front ;  and  long  may  they  re- 
main to  marie  the  site  of  the  -dwelling  place  of  holy  men  of  old. 

From  this  house,  my  memory  naturally  turns  to  the  old  "  Meeting 
House,"  on  the  hill;  the  site  of  which  is  occupied  by  the  house  in 
which  a  portion  of  our  exercises  have  this  day  taken  place.  The  exte- 
rior appearance  and  the  internal  arrangement  were  similar  to  what 
might,  fifty  years  ago,  have  been  seen  in  almost  every  town  in  New 
England.  The  posts  were  cased  inside,  so  that  their  size  was  ol)vious 
to  the  eye.  Running  up  the  tower-stairs  to  the  belfry,  as  we  boys 
were  in  the  habit  of  doing  very  often,  we  could  see  the  massive  frame- 


88 

work  of  the  roof.  Judging  from  wbat  I  recollect  of  its  appearance,  it 
might  now  have  been  standing,  but  for  that  unfortunate  trait  of  our 
character — all  aversion  to  everything  old.  The  belfry  was  surmount- 
ed by  a  handsome  spire  of,  I  think,  very  fortunate  proportions,  indi- 
cating that  they  who  designed  it,  retained  the  taste  and  impressions 
derived  from  similar  objects  in  our  father-land. 

The  square,  unpainted,  high  pews — with  their  uncushioned  seats  and 
bare  floors — the  pulpit  large  enough  to  accommodate  an  ordinary  con- 
vocation of  the  clergy — the  immense  sounding  board,  with  its  elabo- 
rate paneled  and  carved  work — which  always  excited  my  boyish  fears 
for  the  personal  safety  of  Mr.  Gay^for  since  I  could  discover  no  ade- 
quate means  for  its  suspension,  it  was  in  my  opinion  inevitably  des- 
tined to  fall — the  wide  o-alleries  on  three  sides,  with  the  loner  seats  back 
of  them,  and  the  high  pews  against  the  wall,  are  all  most  clearly  inter- 
woven with  my  earliest  recollections  of  public  worship. 

These  galleries  served  as  a  sort  of  play-ground  for  the  boys,  and  I 
remember  well  an  honest,  simple  man,  who  lived,  I  think,  with  Mr.  Jo- 
seph Pease,  and  who  seemed  to  imagine  that  he  was  earning  a  certain 
passport  to  heaven  by  rapping  the  boys  on  the  head  to  keep  them  still, 
but  greatly  increasing  the  disturbance. 

No  deep  toned  organ  then  aided  the  service.  The  rational  taste  in 
church  music  had  not  then  overcome  the  aversion  of  our  puritan  an- 
cestors to  the  becoming  usages  of  the  English  Church,  and  I  doubt  if 
a  church  organ  could  have  been  found  m  a  single  congregational  house 
of  worship  in  this  State,  during  the  first  quarter  of  the  present  century. 

The  singers,  or  choir,  were  then  arranged  in  four  parts,  occupying 
the  entire  fx'ont  of  the  gallery  on  three  sides,  and  my  uncle,  Elihu 
Kent — the  father  of  my  cousin  Horace  Kent,  from  Virginia,  whom  I 
have  the  happiness  of  meeting  here  to-day — was  the  leader.  In  the 
language  of  the  day,  he  "  set  the  psalm  ;"  and  that  "  pitch  pipe,"  with 
which  he  gave  what  I  believe  is  termed  the  "  key  note,"  was  to  me  a 
most  mysterious  instrument. 

There  were  no  means  for  warming  the  building.  Foot  stoves  were 
common — carried  by  the  boys  for  the  comfort  of  their  grandmothers  ; 
and  the  transfer  of  these  from  one  pew  to  another,  over  the  high  di- 
visions, was  considered  a  mark  of  singular  benevolence  on  the  part  of 
the  more  aristocratic  elderly  ladies  towards  their  less  favored  neigh- 
bors. Whether  the  greater  warmth  of  the  piety  of  our  ancestors  sup- 
plied the  heat  of  stoves  and  furnaces  of  modern  days,  is  perhaps  a 


89 

question  to  be  solved.  Of  one  thing,  however,  I  am  certain,  that  not- 
withstanding the  absence  of  cushions  and  carpets  and  anthracite  fur- 
naces, the  attendance  in  those  days  at  the  places  of  public  worship 
was  little  affected  by  the  variations  of  the  thermometer,  and  was  more 
general  and  uniform  than  at  the  present  day.  The  change  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  tlie  Ijuilding,  tlie  good  taste  and  comforts  of  its  furniture  as  seen 
in  the  present  structure,  the  improvement  of  the  music  by  the  introiluc- 
tion  of  the  choir  and  organ,  point  significantly  to  a  wholesome  change  in 
public  sentiment,  not  only  as  to  the  mode  of  conducting  public  worship, 
but  as  to  the  proper  and  appropriate  uses  of  church  buildings. 

The  English  Church,  followed  by  the  Episcopal  Church  in  this 
country,  separated  by  a  solemn  form  of  consecration,  their  churches 
"  from  all  unhallowed,  worldly  or  common  use  ;"  and  therefore  their 
churches  were  held  exclusively  for  the  worship  of  Almighty  God.  Our 
puritan  ancestors  thinking  tliey  saw  in  this  proper  and  becoming  prac- 
tice, a  tendency  to  superstition  and  a  blind  reverence  for  mere  objects 
of  sense,  went  too  far  the  other  way,  and  degraded  the  house  of  God 
to  the  most  common,  not  to  say  profane,  uses.  The  controlling  influ- 
ence of  this  feeling  was  most  manifest,  within  my  recollection.  The 
town  and  freemen's  meetings,  as  they  were  termed,  were  always  held 
in  the  "Meeting  House."  Theatrical  exhibitions  were  sometimes  got 
up  in  it ;  and  I  well  remember,  upon  one  of  these  occasions,  the  "  star  " 
of  the  performance  was  a  Miss  Sheldon — I  think  a  daughter  of  Col. 
Thomas  Sheldon  of  the  West  Society.  If  it  .happened  to  rain  on 
"training  day,"  the  company  was  marched  into  the  "  Meeting  House," 
and  the  manual  exercise  was  gone  through  with,  there. 

As  I  have  remarked,  more  rational  and  consistent  views  now  pro- 
vail  ;  and  I  presume  no  one  in  this  beautiful  village  associates  other 
duties  with  the  church  than  the  public  worsliip  of  his  Maker. 

Mr.  Gay  was  the  first  and  the  last  congregational  minister  to  whom 
I  ever  listened.  My  parents,  during  my  childhood,  became  connected 
with  the  Baptist  conmiunion  ;  but  their  place  of  worship  was  so  far  di.s- 
tant  that  their  children  lingered  at  tlie  old  house  to  a  great  extent,  un- 
til the  erection  of  the  Baptist  meeting  house,  just  south  of  where  Mr. 
Thomas  Archer  now  resides.  This  took  place  a  year  or  two  before  my 
parents  removed  from  the  town.  Since  that  time,  my  brothers  and 
myself  have  strayed,  as  you  may  think,  into  the  Episcopal  Church. 
But  whether  strayed  or  not— I  found  peace,  and  quiet,  and  comfort 
there,  and  I  trust  a  hope  sure  and  steadfast,  of  final  rest  in  heaven. 
12 


90 

through  the  merits  of  our  blessed  Redeemer.  From  the  old  "  Meeting 
House  "  my  memory  naturally  turns  to  the  school  house.  In  my  day 
it  stood  nearly  in  front  of  the  "  Meeting  House,"  on  "  the  green,"  as 
it  was  called — in  the  middle  of  your  beautiful  broad  street.  My  earliest 
recollections  of  it  are  when  it  was  new.  The  old  school  house — its 
predecessor — I  know  by  tradition,  stood  down  the  hill,  at  the  ojDcning 
of  the  road  leading  to  West  Suffield.  I  do  not  remember  the  buildine, 
but  I  do  remember  the  traces  of  its  foundation  and  the  fragments  of 
bricks  left  there  after  its  demolition.  My  recollections  of  first  attending 
school  are  in  the  new  school  house,  standing  where  I  have  described  it. 
The  house  was  new  and  freshly  painted  white ;  and  it  left  upon  my 
childish  imagination  an  impression  of  magnificence  and  grandeur  of 
architecture  far  surpassing  anything  I  have  since  seen.  I  have  been 
abroad — have  viewed  with  admiration  Westminister  Abbey  and  the  new 
Parliament  House  opposite — many  of  the  grand  old  cathedrals — many 
of  the  royal  and  noble  castles  and  palaces  of  England  and  of  the  continent. 
But  none  of  them  made,  at  the  time,  an  impression  surpassing  that 
which  I  now  recall  as  left  upon  my  boyish  fancy  by  the  new  school- 
house.  Improved  taste,  or  better  judgment,  has  removed  the  building 
from  the  highway  to  adjoining  land,  formerly  a  part  of  the  farm  of 
Col.  Luther  Loomis ;  and  there  it  now  stands — a  plain  and  simple 
structure  of  no  great  dimensions — a  monument,  convincing  me  of  the 
marvelous  changes  wrought  in  our  ideas  by  the  flight  of  fifty  years. 
Not  only  the  school-house,  but  the  hills,  down  which  I  used  to  slide  on 
my  sled — the  brook  on  which  I  skated  in  the  winter,  and  in  which  I 
bathed  almost  daily  in  the  summer — have  all  dwindled  into  most  un- 
accountably contracted  dimensions. 

The  various  experiences  of  my  early  school  days,  and  the  names  and 
persons  of  my  school  mates  are  vivid  in  my  memory.  The  Grangers — 
the  Peases — the  Kents — the  Loomises — the  Kings — the  Hathaways — 
the  Austins — the  Remingtons — the  Sheldons — the  Phelpses,  the 
Hitchcocks,  and  others  that  I  might  name — now  as  I  stand  on  the 
ground  where  I  knew  them  so  long  ago,  come  up  in  my  memory  with 
all  their  personal  peculiarities.  The  simple  beauty  of  the  girls,  and  the 
athletic  feats,  the  skill  at  ball,  the  manliness,  and  in  some  instances 
the  clownishness,  of  the  boy.s,  are  distinctly  recalled. 

Of  the  experiences  of  my  school  days,  I  could  recount  many,  which 
might  show  that  I  was  to  say  the  least,  unfortunate.  Among  the 
teachers,  I  remember  a  master   Sykes — Lott  Sykes  was  his  name. 


91 

Whether  our  historian  of  to-day  is  of  his  family,  I  know  not.  I  recollect 
he  combed  his  hair  in  precisely  the  same,  somewhat  peculiar  manner. 
Goldsmith's  description  of  his  country  school  master,  was  in  one  re- 
spect applicable  to  him  : — 

"  A  man  severe  he  was,  and  stem  to  view, 
I  knew  him  well,  and  every  tniaut  knew." 

He  was  a  good  teacher,  and  maintained  excellent  discipline  in  a 
school  of  fifty  or  sixty  unruly  boys — to  say  nothing  of  the  girls.  His 
hand-writing  was  like  copper-plate.  He  feruled  me  once,  for  tripping 
down  in  school  an  awkward  school-mate,  while  he  was  going  to  the  fire 
to  warm  his  feet.  I  doubtless  deserved  the  punishment,  though  the  of- 
fence arose  from  no  "  malice  aforethought." 

From  the  district  school,  I  ascended  to  a  classical  school,  in  the  up- 
per west  room,  first  taught,  I  think,  by  Mr.  Gaylord  Welles,  and  after- 
wards by  Mr.  Roswell  Bailey,  a  very  unfit  man,  for  I  have  not  for- 
gotten the  aid  he  afforded  me  in  deceiving  the  Committee  at  a  public  ex- 
amination. From  the  school-house,  I  was  transferred  to  Mr.  Gay's  school 
in  his  house — in  the  chamber  over  the  kitchen ;  and  in  the  small  south 
chamber  adjoining  was  kept  the  town  library.  Mr.  Gay  was  not  only  a 
good  man,  but  a  good  teacher.  I  remember  well  having  committed 
Murray's  Grammar  to  memory  most  thoroughly,  without  the  slightest 
comprehension  of  the  prmciples  of  English  Grammar,  until  I  came  un- 
der his  tuition,  when  his  clear  and  simple  illustrations  in  one  or  two 
lessons  revealed  the  whole  subject  to  my  mind. 

Among  ray  school-fellows,  there  were  William  C.  Gay  and  An- 
thony Hathaway.  They  were  both  good  scholars.  The  fluency  with 
which  they  translated  Virgil,  excited  on  my  part  mingled  feelings  of 
admiration  and  boyish  env}'.  The  first  was  a  year  before  me  in  college. 
He  sustained  a  good  reputation  for  scholarship  there,  and  gave  fair 
promise  of  success  in  his  profession  afterwards,  but  was  carried  to  com- 
paratively an  early  grave  by,  I  believe,  some  chronic  affection  of  the 
brain.  The  second  Avas  in  the  same  class — but  alas  I  never  attained  to 
graduation.  Not  many  years  since  he  was  called  to  his  final  rest ;  but. 
although  his  life  was  thus  prolonged,  his  precocious  faculties,  to  the  sore 
disappointment  of  the  justly  high  expectations  of  his  friends,  sank  into  a 
premature  decay.  The  last  recollection  I  have  of  him,  is  that  of  hear- 
ing him  recite  in  the  college  chapel  a  ludicrous  parody  of  Cato's  solil- 
oquy on  the   immortality  of  the  soul.     Strange  coincidence  I  that  his 


92 

after  life  should  have  seemed  to  be  a  practical  contradiction  of  that 
same  soliloquy  !  But  to  those  who  knew  him,  as  I  did,  in  his  bright 
boyhood,  it  will  be  gratifying  to  learn  that  on  the  eve  of  his  departure 
for  a  better  and  brighter  world,  the  cloud  which  had  so  long  darkened 
his  intellect  passed  off,  and  he  seemed,  from  his  quotations  from  Latin 
authors,  to  be  entering  the  immortal  world  from  a  point  in  his  early 
life  where  his  mind  was  active  and  occupied  in  the  study  of  the  classics. 
Mr.  Gay  was  cheerful  and  kindly  in  his  intercourse  with  his  school- 
boys, and  yet  he  always  commanded  their  love  and  respect.  His  sal- 
ary as  a  clergyman  was  small,  and  he  was  obliged  to  supply  its  defic- 
iency by  school  teaching  and  active  labor  on  his  farm.  He  was  hos- 
pitable in  liis  house,  and,  in  the  discharge  of  his  pastoral  duties,  kind 
and  charitable,  though  unostentatious.  My  recollection  of  many  inci- 
dents justifies  me  in  saying  that  the  few  poor  of  that  day  had  cause  to 
be  thankful  to  him,  and,  could  they  speak  now,  would  bless  his  memory. 

To  the  leading  men  of  Sufiield  and  their  political  afiinities,  fifty 
years  ago,  allusion  has  already  been  made.  Thaddeus  Leavitt,  Asahel 
Hathaway,  William  Gay,  Esquires,  Captain  John  Kent,  the  father 
of  the  preacher  to-day,  and  Deacon  Taylor,  were  among  the  known  and 
decided  Federalists,  as  they  were  called.  Mr.  Granger,  Postmaster 
General,  Mr.  Seth  Pease,  Assistant  Postmaster  General,  and  afterwards 
Surveyor  General  of  the  United  States,  Col.  Luther  Loomis,  Capt.  Tim- 
othy Phelps  and  my  father,  were  among  the  leading  men  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party. 

Esquire  Leavitt  and  Esquire  Hathaway,  as  they  were  generally  des- 
ignated, were  the  principal  Justices  of  the  Peace  of  the  town.  My 
father's  professional  practice  as  a  lawyer  led  him  to  send  me  to  them 
frequently  on  business  errands.  I  remember  well  the  awe  and  fear 
with  which  I  used  to  enter  their  presence.  Esquire  Leavitt  was  tall  in 
his  person,  always  neat  in  his  apparel,  moved  with  a  dignified  aristo- 
cratic air,  and,  to  my  young  eyes,  venerable  in  his  appearance,  with 
an  exceepingly  mild  and  benevolent  expression  of  countenance.  Es- 
quire Hathaway  was  in  his  personal  appearance  rather  the  reverse  of 
Esquire  Leavitt.  The  sobriquet  of  "Bishop"  was  often  attached  to 
his  name.  The  origin  of  this  high  ecclesiastical  title,  as  given  to  him, 
I  have  never  learned.  He  was  an  educated  man — of  strong  good 
sense,  united  with  an  occasional  flash  of  homely,  but  pungent  wit. 
He  was  one  of  the  deacons  of  the  church. 

Capt.  John  Kent  was  remarkable  for  order  and  system  in  all  his  af- 


93 

fairs  ;  of  rather  strong  political  prejudices,  but  most  consistent  and  ex- 
emplary in  life.  His  fences  were  always  good — his  farm  well  cultivated, 
his  boys  well  trained  and  dressed,  which  contrasted  rather  strongly 
with  my  father's  premises  and  boys,  especially  as  they  were  on  the 
opposite  sides  of  the  same  road.  I  am  justified,  perhaps,  in  adding  an 
an  apology,  that  my  father's  professional  duties  called  him  much  from 
home,  so  that  the  charge  of  all  these  matters  devolved  upon  my 
mother. 

Of  Postmaster  General  Granger  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  much,  as 
he  was  a  man  of  national  reputation.  I  have  always  understood  that 
he  was  a  leader  of  the  Hartford  County  bar.  As  a  member  of  the 
State  Legislature,  the  people  of  Connecticut  owe  him  a  vast  debt  of 
gratitude  ;  since  by  his  efforts,  more  than  by  those  of  any  other  individ- 
ual, were  the  avails  of  the  Western  Reserve  directed  to  the  support  of 
common  schools ;  and  from  which  arose  our  munificent  school  Fund, 
affording  to  every  child  of  our  state,  the  means  of  obtaining  a  respecta- 
ble education.  In  his  person  Mr.  Granger  was  one  of  the  handsomest 
men  I  ever  saw.  His  son  Francis  Granger,  who  was  also  Postmaster 
General  under  President  Harrison,  is,  according  to  my  recollection, 
almost  afac  simile  of  his  father. 

Col.  Loomis  was  an  active,  energetic  and  most  industrious  man. 
Though  somewhat  corpulent,  ho  moved  with  a  quiet  and  business  step. 
He  often  represented  the  town  in  the  State  Legislature,  and  was  gen- 
erally a  successful  man  in  the  conduct  of  his  affairs.  He,  with  Esquire 
Leavitt,  Capt.  Kent,  and  at  a  soniewliat  later  day,  Mr.  Thomas  Arch- 
er, were  the  merchants  of  the  town. 

Captain  Timothy  Phelps  was  a  reading  man — fond  of  social  inter- 
course, ready  in  conversation,  as  his  mind  was  well  stored  with  histori- 
cal information.  Mr.  Pease  the  assistant  Postmaster  General  was  a 
rare  man  in  his  day.  He  was  a  man  of  science.  As  a  surveyor,  as- 
tronomer, and  geographer,  ho  was  greatly  in  advance  of  the  age  in 
which  he  lived. 

My  father,  Hezekiah  Huntington,  was  a  soldier  in  the  revolution, 
and  was  at  one  time,  for  several  months,  confined  in  the  infamous  Jer- 
sey prison  ship.  He  acquired  his  professional  education  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  and  settled  in  this  town.  In  1813  he  removed  to  Harfford. 
He  was  appointed  District  Attorney  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  lield  the 
office  more  than  twenty-five  years.  He  was  also  State  Attorney  for 
Hartford  County  many  years. 


94 

William  Gay,  Esquire,  I  pass  over  as  he  has  been  appropriately 
mentioned  hy  another  who  knew  him  well. 

I  hope  to  be  pardoned  for  alluding  in  tliis  connection  to  one  of  an 
earlier  generation  than  these  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  and  who  sur- 
vived within  my  recollection.  I  refer  to  my  maternal  grandfather, 
Elihu  Kent — Major  Kent  as  he  was  commonly  called.  He  was  born, 
I  believe,  and  lived  and  died  in  a  house  that  stood  where  Mr.  Heze- 
kiah  Spencer's  house  now  stands.  My  recollections  of  the  venerable 
man  undoubtedly  derive  their  coloring  in  some  measure,  from  that  affec- 
tionate reverence  which  a  grandson  necessarily  feels  for  a  kind  and  in- 
dulgent grand-parent.  But  my  reason  can  draw  conclusions  from  facts 
which  I  do  remember  as  such,  however  much  they  may  be  mingled 
with  the  fiction  of  the  peculiar  relative  to  which  I  have  alluded.  From 
these  I  can  say  with  confidence  that  he  was  a  man  of  great  frankness 
of  character,  of  independence  and  firmness  in  his  opinions,  consistent 
and  exemplary  in  his  life.  With  an  iron  constitution  he  possessed  an 
untiring  energy.  Patriotism  was  a  leading  and  controlling  trait  of  his 
character.  He  was  an  officer  in  what  was  called  the  French  war, 
which  resulted  in  the  conquest  from  the  French  by  the  English  and 
the  Colonies,  of  the  country  northwest  of  the  Ohio  and  of  the  Canadas, 
and  was  finally  terminated  by  the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1763. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  revolution,  with  his  characteristic  energy 
and  promptitude  he  raised  a  company  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  men, 
on  what  was  called  the  "  Lexington  alarm,"  and  as  their  commander, 
marched  with  them  to  the  "  relief  of  Boston."  At  the  expiration  of  the 
term  for  which  the  company  engaged,  he  returned  home,  and  during 
the  continuance  of  the  war,  sent  his  three  of  four  sons,  with  I  believe, 
two  negro  slaves  to  many  surrounding  campaigns — he  himself  remain- 
ing at  home  to  conduct  the  operations  of  his  farm.  His  surplus  of 
grain — of  pork  and  beef,  I  have  often  heard  my  mother  say,  was 
carried  to  the  army  for  which  he  freely  received  in  payment,  continen- 
tal money,  for  the  sake  of  sustaining  the  credit  of  the  only  currency 
within  the  command  of  the  government.  I  remember  well  seeing  in 
the  garret  of  his  house,  large  quantities  of  this  worthless  paper  money. 
He  always  rode  on  horse-back,  and  at  a  galloping  or  cantering  gait. 
In  the  latter  years  of  his  life  he  was  so  feeble  as  to  require  assistance 
to  mount  his  horse,  and  yet  he  would  persist  in  that  mode  of  riding, 
and  when  mounted  he  would  move  with  the  same  gait.  He  died,  I 
think,  in  1814,  in  the  eighty-third  year  of  his  age. 


95 

I  have  reserved  Deacon  Taylor's  name  for  the  last,  as  lie  naturally 
leads  me  to  another  subject  upon  which  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  be- 
fore closing  these  remarks.  Deacon  Taylor  was  the  blaeksniitli  of  the 
village,  and  none  the  less  respected  on  that  account.  His  dwelling 
house  stood  where  the  church,  in  which  we  are  now  assembled,  stands. 
His  shop,  a  long,  low,  unpainted  building,  stood  a  few  rods  south.  In 
his  life  and  conversation  he  was  very  exemplary.  He  was  a  hard  work- 
ing man,  employing  many  journeymen  and  apprentices  in  his  shop. 
A  village  blacksmith's  shop,  in  tliose  days,  was  a  very  different  affair 
from  what  it  is  at  present.  Now  the  business  of  it  is  almo.st  wholly 
confined  to  shoeing  our  horses  and  oxen.  Then,  as  in  Deacon  Taylor's 
— not  only  our  horses  and  oxen  were  shod,  but  all  our  agricultural  im- 
plements were  manufactured — our  scythes — our  plouglishare.s — hoes 
— pitchforks — spades — hammers — axes — many  of  our  household  uten- 
sils— our  gridirons — toasting-irons — andirons  and  fire  shovels  and 
tongs.  And  so  it  was  with  almost  every  other  article  of  house- 
hold furniture,  and  wearing  apparel — they  were  of  domestic  man- 
ufacture. Mr.  Fitch  Parsons  was  the  cabinet  maker.  A  Mr. 
Hathaway,  I  think,  who  lived  in  what  was  called  Christian  Street,  was 
the  hatter ;  Messrs.  Jones  and  Gabriel  and  Mr.  Brown  the  shoemakers ; 
Mr.  Bestor  the  tailor  ;  all  of  whom,  I  remember  well,  were  very  much 
hurried  just  before  thanksgiving,  that  being  the  time  when  the  boys  as- 
sumed their  new  winter  suits  :  and  what  labor,  and  care,  and  vexation 
attended  the  preparation  of  these  suits.  I  can  remember  when  the 
wool  was  carded  by  hand.  Afterwards  the  great  improvement  of  carding 
machines  was  introduced.  The  manufacture  began  early  in  the  suuuner; 
the  wool  was  carded  as  I  have  intimated,  then  spun  upon  what  was 
called  a  large  wheel,  by  the  daughters  of  the  family,  or  by  a  person 
hired  for  that  special  purpose,  carried  to  the  weaver's,  and  thence  to 
the  clothier's,  and  then  brought  home,  a  good,  warm,  substantial,  but- 
ternut brown  cloth  usually,  ready  for  the  tailoress,  who  in  many  cases 
came  to  the  house  to  cut  and  make  it  into  suits.  So  with  the  sum- 
mer clothes  ;  the  flax  was  spun  in  the  winter,  whitened  on  the  early 
spring  grass,  a  part  colored  blue,  and  then  woven  into  blue  stripes  or 
checks ;  and  such  fabrics  made  garments  which  lasted  ({uite  as  long  as 
the  wearers  desired. 

I  mention  these  things  as  illustrating  the  progress  made  in  our 
domestic  civilization  within  the  past  fifty  years.  Tlie  labors  of  the  fe- 
males of  a  family,  in  a  vast  majority  of  instances,  at  the  period  I  speak 


96 

of,  left  little  time  or  opportunity  to  obtain  an  education  to  qualify  them 
for  the  important  station  tliey  necessarily  fill  in  society. 

The  improvement  in  the  particulars  to  which  I  have  referred,  as  well 
as  in  many  other  respects,  leave  to  our  wives  and  daughters,  time  to  fit 
themselves  for  their  appropriate  spheres,  to  cultivate  and  enlarge  their 
minds,  to  acquire  the  knowledge  which  enables  them  to  control  and  in- 
fluence public  opinion,  to  purify  and  elevate  public  sentiment,  to  be- 
come the  educators  of  our  younger  children,  to  cheer  with  their  smiles 
and  to  lighten  with  their  love,  the  increased  labors  of  man. 

I  have  thus  hastily  sketched  from  my  memory,  some  of  the  things,  the 
incidents,  and  the  men  of  SufReld,  of  fifty  years  ago.  I  must  conclude 
with  expressing  the  earnest  hope  that  my  native  town,  so  beautiful  in 
its  natural  scenery,  so  rich  in  men,  who  have  here  concentrated  so 
much  of  the  means  of  human  happiness,  or  gone  forth  to  make  their 
mark  in  other  towns  and  states,  will  upon  some  other  and  early  fitting 
occasion  find  a  historian,  who  will  fill  up  and  give  the  true  coloring  to 
the  picture,  of  which  I  have  drawn  but  a  very  imperfect  outline. 

liemarks  by  Henry  A.  Sykes. 

Mr.  President  : — The  gentleman  who  has  so  kindly  entertained  us 
with  reminiscences  of  his  early  years  in  this  place,  in  the  course  of  his 
remarks  respecting  those  who  had  i\\Q'' task  to  teach  ^^  his  '■'young 
idea  how  to  shoot,^''  alludes  to  one  Sykes,  as  one  of  those  who  enjoyed 
so  "  delightful^''  a  privilege  ;  and  seems  to  infer,  from  the  cut  of  the 
hair,  that  he  was  an  ancestor  of  mine.  Now  sir,  it  is  not  ray  wish  to 
leave  any  one  laboring  under  an  error  of  such  magnitude  ;  and  will 
therefore  inform  him,  that  while  the  individual  he  alludes  to,  and  ray 
humble  self,  have  a  common  origin  in  one  Victory,  who  favored  this 
plantation  with  his  regis  in  1680 ;  it  was  his  Lot,  to  originate  from  two 
Jonathans,  results  of  that  Victory  ;  while  I  claim  a  paternity  in  an 
Alexander's  two  Victory's,  by  Samuel,  another  consequence  of  the 
first  Victory.* 

*  Explanation.    Victory  Sykes  settled  in  Suffield,  in  16S0,  had  sons — 


I  I  I 

Jonathan,  born  1675;       Samuel,  born  1680;      Victory,  born  1689. 

I  I 

Jonathan,  born  1708;      Victory,  born  1712. 

I  I 

Lot,  born  1739 ;  Victory,  brrn  1758. 

I  I 

Lot,  the  teacher,  bn.  1774;  Alexander,  born  1786. 
I 
Henry  Alexander,  the  speaker. 


97 

But  enough,  let  thus  much  suffice  on  this  point ;  I  will  now  ask  this 
audience  to  transport  themselves,  in  imagination,  back  in  time,  to  tho 
commencement  of  the  reign  of  our  sovereign  Lady  Queen  Anne,  and 
we  will  endeavor  to  picture  to  our  minds  the  appearance  of  some  of  tho 
.prominent  features  of  this  neighborhood,  and  perhaps  introduce  our- 
selves to  some  of  the  people  in  their  homes  of  that  day. 

And  first  let  us  look  at  High  Street  itself.  We  have  before  us  a- 
broad  avenue,  twenty  rods  in  breadth,  extending  more  than  two  miles, 
in  a  straight  line,  from  north  to  south,  bearing  about  twenty  degrees' 
west.  We  arc  not  however,  to  imagine  it  to  be  flanked  on  either, 
hand,  with  painted  fences,  protecting  enclosures  filled  with  fruit  and 
^ornamental  trees ;  on  the  contrary,  the  forest  still  stands  upon  its  bor- 
ders, in  some  portions  of  its  extent,  and  in  some  parts  occupies  its  sur- 
fiicc  ;  while  the  roadway  is  but  a  mere  path,  meandering  among  tho 
stumps  and  bushes  that  still  encumber  the  soil.  Log  fences  inclose 
some  of  the  cleared  fields  that  present  themselves  to  view,  and  many 
of  those  fields  arc  thickly  studded  with  the  huge  stumps  of  trees  that 
have  recently  been  fallen,  and  not  altogether  removed.  Our  prospect 
is  limited  by  the  forest  yet  remaining,  tho  borders  of  which  prcesnt  to 
our  vision,  serried  ranks  of  trees,  bare  of  foliage  except  at  their  very 
summit.  A  marsh  covered  with  alders  and  other  swamp  bushes  en- 
croaching far  upon  the  street,  presents  its  unsightly  aspect,  and  holds 
the  center  of  its  sway  near  tho  place  where  now  stands  the  spacious 
mansion  lately  owned  and  occupied  by  William  Gay,  Esq.,' deceased. 
Along  the  borders  of  tho  street,  in  irregular  positions  stand  the  dwell- 
ings of  the  pioneers  of  tho  town,  entirely,  guiltless  of  paint,  or  other 
coloring,  except  what  they  take  from  their  material,  and  the  subdued 
tints  of  time.  Some  of  them  aspire  to  tho  aristocratic  form  of  two 
ptories,  with  two  rooms  in  each  story,  and  a  lean-to  back  for  the  con- 
venience of  culinary,  and  laundry  operations. 

Sloping  away  to  the  east,  north  and  south,  for  some  forty  rods  from 
the  summit  of  the  elevated  ground,  before  the  burial  place,  lies  a 
broad  common,  upon  which  since  the  destruction  of  the  forest,  has 
sprung  up  a  luxuriant  growth  of  shrubs.  At  the  summit  aforesaid  ia 
the  Meeting  House,  an  unic^uc  building,  wliich  if  standing  at  the  prcscnit, 
time  would  be  an  object  of  curiosity.  It  was  erected  in  the  reiga  of 
King  William  (Prince  of  Orange)  about  two  years  previous  to  his 
demise,  and  consequently  has  not  yet  received  the  bronzjng  tints  of 
age.  Let  us  picture  to  our  minds  this  edifice  in  which  our  fathcra. 
13 


98 

worshiped  for  about  fifty  years,  where  Mr.  Ruggles  preached,  and 
Mr.  Devotion  and  Dr.  Gay  were  ordained.  It  is  a  building  forty  feet 
square  and  some  twenty  feet  high  to  the  eaves.  The  roof  is  in  the 
form  of  an  Egyptian  pyramid,  .truncated  at  the  'top,  around  which 
there  is  a  railing  inclosing  the  flat.  On  each  of  the  four  sides  of  the 
roof  stands  a  high,  pointed  gable  of  about  twenty  feet  span  at  the  base. 
There  is  a  door  at  each  of  the  three  sides  facing  to  the  east,  north,  and 
south,  and  four  windows  in  each  of  the  four  sides  of  the  edifice,  beside 
one  in  the  center  of  the  west  side  for  the  pulpit,  and  one  in  each  of  the 
four  gables.  The  windows  are  glazed  with  quarries  set  in  lead.  En- 
tering the  house  at  the  eastern  door,  we  have  before  us  an  aisle,  lead- 
ing to  the  pulpit,  at  the  west  side,  over  which  hangs  in  threatening 
aspect,  a  sounding  board,  bearing  no  very  distant  resemblance  in  its 
general  outline,  to  the  top  of  a  Britannia  tea-pot.  At  the  right  and 
left  of  the  pulpit  is  a  row  of  "  flanker  seats  "  so  called,  facing  toward 
the  north  and  south  according  to  their  relative  position  with  respect  to 
the  pulpit.  On  each  side  of  the  central  aisle,  is  a  row  of  seats  facing 
to  the  west,  and  an  aisle  at  their  outer  ends,  next  the  north  and  south 
walls  of  the  room.  Looking  up,  we  find  a  gallery  extending  over 
libout  three  fourths  of  the  area  of  the  house.  Above  this,  at  the  level 
©f  the  eaves  of  the  edifice,  we  find  a  second  gallery,  which  is  lighted 
by  the  windows  in  the  gables.  The  open  area,  in  front  of  the  galleries 
permits  us  to  look  far  up  the  interior,  and  study  the  heavy  carpentry  of 
the  roof. 

In  the  rear  of  the  Meeting  House  are  several  grassy  mounds,  mark- 
itig  the  resting  places  of  those  whose  labors  here  arc  ended.  Among 
them  is  one  covering  the  remains  of  Mr.  John  Younglove,  and  there, 
may  also  be  seen  those  round-topped  stones  inscribed  to  the  memory 
of  John  Lawton  and  his  wife  Benedick  ;  Esther,  late  wife  of  Captain 
Anthony  Austin ;  and  Sarah,  late  wife  of  Thomas  Stevens,  all  of  which 
are  still  remaining. 

Now  let  us  imagine  a  beautiful  Sabbath  morn  in  the  early  autumn 
of  1702,  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  years  ago.  The  looked  for  "  red 
flag"  is  floating  to  the  breeze  from  the  top  of  the  Church,  notifying 
the  people  that  the  hour  to  assemble  for  worship  has  come,  and  they 
are  beginning  to  appear  along  the  street,  bending  their  way  towards 
the  house  of  God.  No  wheel  carriages  are  seen  among  the  groups 
approaching,  mostly  on  foot,  but  a  few  of  the  proprietors  from  the 
more  distant  grants  are  mounted  on  horseback,  with  their  loving  spouses 


99 

on  pillions  behind,  while  their  sturdy  children  trudge  along  on  foot 
beside  them.  They  are  mostly  clad  in  home  manufactured  fabrics, 
(literally  so.)  The  males  in  small  clothes  and  hose,  with  long  waist- 
coats, over  which  is  thrown  a  loose  tunic  or  coat,  and  wide  brimmed 
hats  to  protect  their  heads.  The  females  appear  in  substantial  home- 
spun linsey-woolscys  and  checks;  but  although  tlien,  as  now,  hoops 
bore  sway  at  the  Courts  of  Europe,  wo  believe  few  will  be  found  here. 
As  the  groups  approach,  we  see  among  them  Lieut.  John  Pengilley 
with  his  wife  Mary,  Ebenezer  Burbank  and  his  wife  Rebecca,  and 
Jacob  Adams  with  his  wife  Anna,  accompanied  by  their  sons  and 
daughters ;  from  the  ferry.  Another  group  from  Feather  street  ar- 
rives, and  among  them  we  sec  John  Trumble  and  his  wife  Elizabeth, 
Walter  Halladay  and  John  Burbank  Sen.,  with  his  son  John  Jr.,  and 
their  wives  Mehitabel  and  Mary.  From  the  west  comes  Lieut.  Joseph 
Harmon  and  his  brother  Nathaniel,  with  their  wives  Hannah  and 
Mary,  and  their  sons  and  daughters,  a  goodly  number.  From  the 
north  comes  David  Free,  Jonathan  Taylor  and  his  brother  Samuel ; 
and  from  the  south  Capt.  Antliony  Austin,  Edmund  Marshall  and 
John  Rising  with  their  families ;  while  approaching  from  the  more  im- 
mediate vicinity,  among  others,  may  be  seen  James  King,  Peter  Roe, 
John  Hanchet,  Thomas  Remington,  Thomas  and  Samuel  Granger, 
Samuel  Kent,  David  and  Jonathan  Winchcll,  Mrs.  Younglovc,  Corpo- 
ral Joseph  Pumrey,  Thomas  Copley,  George  Norton,  Samuel  and 
William  Spencer,  Thomas  Huxley  and  Robert  Old.  Finally  with 
grave  but  cheerful  demeanor,  the  beloved  pastor  appears  leading  by 
the  hand  his  child,  Mercy,  who  bids  fair  to  be  a  counterpart  of  her 
mother  Mercy,  whom  the  cares  of  a  fast  increasing,  and  rising  family 
will  not  permit  often  to  accompany  her  husband  to  the  house  of  pub- 
lic worship.  As  he  enters  the  pulpit,  the  congregation  arc  hushed  in 
silence,  and  stand  in  reverential  deportment  while  the  blessing  of  Al- 
mighty God  is  invoked  upon  their  assembling.  A  psalm  is  given  out 
to  be  sung  from  the  version  set  to  meter  by  Stcrnhold  and  Hopkins, 
and  Goodman  Sykes  rises,  sets  the  tune,  reads  a  line  and  the  congre- 
gation join  in  singing  it,  then  another  line  is  read  and  then  sung  ; 
thus  they  make  melody  in  their  hearts  unto  the  Lord.  Then  their 
pastor  leads  them  td  the  throne  of  grace,  that  they  may  feed  in  heav- 
enly pastures,  and  draw  water  from  the  wells  of  salvation.  After  the 
singing  of  another  of  tlie  songs  of  Zion,  he  opens  the  Word  of  God, 
and  breaks  unto  them  the  Broad  of  Life,  endeavoring,  in  the  Spirit  to 


100 

divide  unto  each  his  portioa  in  due  season.  The  services  of  the  morn- 
ing are  closed  with  the  benediction,  and  the  people  retire,  many  to 
their  homes  accompanied  by  some  of  their  distant  neighbors,  while 
others  gather  in  groups ;  perhaps  converse  upon  the  merits  of  their 
new  sovereign,*  and  discuss  the  probable  results  of  the  impending  war 
with  France,  which  soon  became  noted  for  the  battle  of  Blenheim,  in 
Europe,  but  caused  anxiety  and  sorrow  in  the  hearts  of  many  here,  at 
the  destruction  of  Decrfield  and  the  captivity  and  massacre  of  most  of 
its  inhabitants. 

We  will  now  allow  the  wheels  of  time  to  move  forward  some  two 
and  a  half  years.  The  fierce  winds  of  March  are  careering  over  the 
Know  clad  fields,  and  ringing  out  their  strong  base  in  the  neighboring 
forest.  In  a  low  brown  house  nearly  opposite  the  Meeting  House  is 
assembled  a  group  consisting  of  a  matronly  appearing  lady,  somewhat 
advanced  in  the  downhill  of  life,  a  man  of  about  thirty-six  years  of 
age,  and  a  robust  young  man  of  twenty-two  years.  These  are  Mrs. 
Sarah  Younglove,  the  widow  of  Mr.  John  Younglove,  and  John,  and 
Joseph,  her  first  and  last  born  sons.  Her  other  sons,  Samuel  and 
James,  and  her  surviving  daughters,  Mary,  Hannah  and  Lydia,  have 
all  married,  and  are  settled  around  her,  in  the  neighborhood,  while  she 
and  the  two  first  named  occupy  the  house  built  by  the  people  of  the 
town,  for  her  husband,  when  he  first  came  to  be  their  minister.  They 
are  conversing  upon  the  rumors  of  threatened  disturbances  from  the 
northern  Indians,  when  Sergeant  Joseph  Sheldon  their  next  door 
neighbor  comes  in  and  informs  them  that  news  has  just  arrived,  that 
the  Indians,  under  the  lead  of  a  Frenchman,  have  attacked  and  de- 
stroyed Decrfield  ;  that  they  have  killed  and  scalped  a  number  of  the 
inhabitants,  and  carried  off  in  captivity  nearly  all  the  rest,  among 
them  young  Joseph  Eastman ;  and  that  his  kinsman's  house  is  the 
only  one  left  in  the  place,  which  was  saved  by  timely  discovery  of  the 
enemy,  and  the  desperate  bravery  of  its  inmates,  though  Mrs.  Sheldon 
was  shot  upon  her  bed.  After  the  first  shock  which  this  information 
produced  has  in  a  measure  subsided,  and  some  remarks  of  commisera- 
tion for  poor  Joseph  and  his  bereaved  mother,  Mrs.  Younglove  begins 
to  relate  reminiscences  of  her  experience  of  Indian  warfare  at  Brook- 
field  in  1675. 

Leaving  them  we  will  proceed  up  the  street  some  three-fourths  of  a 

*  Queen  Anne. 


101 

mile  from  the  meeting-house.  On  the  cast  side  of  the  way  stands  a 
house  with  its  sharp-pcakcd  gable  facing  toward  the  west.  It  is  about 
twenty-eight  feet  long  by  twenty  feet  wide.  The  second  story  juts  over 
the  lower  toward  the  street,  some  eighteen  inches,  and  the  gable  projects 
over  the  second  story.  At  each  end  of  the  lower  projection  hangs  a  cu- 
riously carved  pendant.  A  chimney  of  ample  proportions  stands  at  the 
east  end,  and  a  door  at  the  south  side  gives  access  to  an  entry,  in  which 
we  find  a  stairway  by  the  side  of  the  chimney  leading  to  the  chambers. 
At  the  loft  hand  is  a  door  through  which  we  pass  to  the  only  room  on 
the  first  floor,  but  it  is  none  of  your  six  by  eight  boxes,  to  viciate  the 
pure  air  and  poison  its  inmates  ;  on  the  contrary  there  is  room  for  the 
old  folks  to  be  at  home  by  the  ample  fireside,  and  leave  full  scope  for 
the  young  to  play  at  hide  and  seek,  or  blind  man's  buff.  The  ceiling 
over  our  heads  is  constructed  of  huge  moulded  beams  supporting  lighter 
joists  over  which  is  laid  a  sheathing  of  boards  forming  both  the  ceiling 
of  the  room,  and  the  floor  of  the  chambers  above.  Time  will  not  per- 
mit me  to  point  out  specifically  the  furniture,  nor  the  contents  of  the 
china  closet  at  the  north  side  of  the  chimney.  But  let  mc  introduce 
you  to  Gopdman  Sykes,  the  architect,  builder  and  proprietor  of  the 
mansion ;  he  has  just  entered  upon  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age.  This 
good  lady  is  Mary,  his  third  wife,  and  he  is  her  second  husband.  These 
two  young  men  are  his  sons  Jonathan  and  Samuel,  by  his  first  wife 
Elizabeth  (Burt)  ;  they  were  natives  of  Springfield,  but  were  trans- 
planted into  the  wilds  of  Sxiffield  in  their  infoncy.  They  have  not  yet 
entered  upon  a  wedded  life,  but  the  fair  Mary  Lane  who  lives  across 
the  street  has  entrapped  the  heart  of  Jonathan,  and  Samuel  frequent- 
ly finds  it  convenient  to  stop  at  the  house  of  Goodman  Hanehct  which 
stands  upon  the  knoll  north  of  the  alder  swamp,  where  the  blooming 
Mabel  alias  Mehitabel  Hanchet  may  be  found.  This  youth  of  fifteen 
is  Victory  Jr.,  the  only  surviving  child  of  Goodman  Sykcs,  by  his 
second  wife,  Elizabeth  (Granger)  ;  and  the  young  maiden  so  engaged 
at  her  spinning  is  Mary  Trumble,  a  daughter  of  Goody  Sykes  by  lier 
first  husband,  Judah  Trumble  ;  and  here  is  neighbor  Quinton  Stock- 
well,  who  resides  at  the  opposite  side  of  the  way.  Having  heard  the 
news  of  the  disasters  at  Deerfield,  he  has  come  in  to  relate  it,  which 
having  done,  he  as  a  matter  of  cour-e  in  sympathetic  feeling  has  been 
led  into  a  narration  of  his  own  captivity  at  tliat  place  in  1G77,  and  his 
adventures  among  the  Indians  in  Canada ;  and  here,  wc  must  leavo 
them,  for  time  forbids  our  tarry  ;  we  must  obey  its  mandate  and  hasten 


102 

onward.  Goodman  Stockwell  has  long  since  closed  the  relation  of  his 
adventures.  Goodman  Sykes  continued  some  four  years  after  the 
events  just  adverted  to,  and  was  gathered  to  his  fathers.  His  sons,  and 
the  maidens  of  their  choice,  joining  hands,  hearts,  and  fortunes,  walked 
along  the  journey  of  life,  reared  their  families,  and  passed  away.  But 
the  old  homestead  !  It  remained  on  that  spot  until  about  thirty  years 
since,  when  the  sacrilegious  hand  of  modern  improvement  was  laid 
upon  it,  and  it  was  removed  thence,  and  degraded  to  the  ignoble  office 
of  a  cattle  shed,  which  office  it  still  occupies  at  the  homestead  of  Capt. 
Seth  King,  in  North  street,  one  of  Suffield's  independent  farmers. 
The  house  of  Mrs.  Younglove  has  long  since  disappeared,  nor  left  "  a 
wreck  behind." 

The  Meeting  House  survived  some  alterations,  many  repairs  and 
resolutions  to  build  a  successor,  until  the  25th  of  April,  1749,  when 
it  was  laid  prostrate.  On  the  Sabbath  following,  (April  30,)  public 
worship  was  held  in  the  open  air,  the  congregation  seating  theraselvea 
"  on  y^  Timber,"  and  the  next  Sabbath,  worship  was  held  at  the  house 
of  Major  (afterward  Gen.)  Phineas  Lyman.  The  sills  for  a  new 
Meeting  House  were  laid  May  8th,  and  the  raising  commenced  the 
next  day  ;  "  y""  Steeple  "  was  raised  the  22d  of  August  following. 
This  house  was  forty  feet  wide  and  fifty-seven  feet  long,  extending 
from  north  to  south  parallel  with  the  front  of  the  burial  ground.  Its 
interior  arrangement  was  similar  to  its  predecessor,  except  that  it  had 
but  one  tier  of  galleries ;  and  the  audience  room  had  a  ceiling  instead 
of  being  open  up  to  the  roof.  The  steeple  stood  on  the  top  of  the 
house,  at  the  north  end.  It  was  taken  down  in  1786,  and  was  re- 
placed with  a  tower  and  spire  built  from  the  ground,  whose  combined 
height  was  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet.  It  was  designed,  and 
built  by  Joseph  Howard  of  Suffield,  and  was  of  beautiful  proportions 
and  thoroughly  built.  It  might  and  ought  to  have  been  preserved, 
but  the  old  house  having  become  somewhat  rickety,  it  was  decided  in 
1835  to  rebuild  ;  and  spires  being  at  that  time  unpopular,  this  was 
involved  in  ruin  with  the  house.  It  was  thrown  down  March  ICth, 
1835,  and  the  tower  and  house  were  demolished  soon  after.  Its  suc- 
cessor, the  present  house,  was  raised  in  June  of  that  year.  These 
three  houses  for  public  worship,  the  first  erected  in  1700,  the  second 
in  1749,  and  the  present  one  in  1835,  have  successively  occupied  the 
same  site.  The  first  Meeting  House  erected  in  the  town  (of  which  the 
monument,  this  day  inaugurated  is  a  model,  in  its  general  outline,) 


103 

stood  upon  the  Common,  southeast  of  tlic  site  of  its  successors.  It 
probably  was  built  about  1G80  and  was  removed  in  1701. 

In  1685,  a  "  red  flag"  was  procured  to  hang  out  to  notify  the 
people  of  the  hour  for  assembling.  In  1710  a  drum  was  purchased 
to  use  for  that  purpose,  and  in  17G0,  the  Society  voted  to  purchase  a 
bell,  which  was  brought  into  the  town  November  18th,  1701. 

This  brings  to  remembrance  the  "  black  knight"  of  the  bell,  Ti,* 
with  a  brief  notice  of  whom  I  will  close.  He  was  one  of  those  wliose 
fortune  it  was  to  be  born  in  bondage,  in  the  house  of  Dr.  Gay,  yet 
knew  nothing  of  the  galling  chains  of  slavery.  There  are  many  here, 
who  can  remember  his  glistening  countenance,  as  he  tolled  the  bell, 
with  measured  stroke,  to  the  step  of  the  good  panson  Gay ;  and  his 
care  to  ring  the  last  peal  as  Mr.  Gay  entered  the  pulpit  door.  With 
many  will  arise  memories  of  loved  ones,  by  whose  open  graves  he 
stood,  and  carefully  covered  their  coffins  with  earth,  and  then  uncov- 
ered his  head,  a  signal  for  the  closing  funeral  ceremony.  But  he,  too 
is  gone,  his  remains  have  been  laid  in  the  ground  with  those  for  whom 
he  had  performed  this  last  sad  office.  May  they  rest  in  peace,  and  hia 
memory  be  cherished  among  the  mementos  of  the  past. 


The  folloAving  original  Hymn  hy  S.  Dryden  Phelps, 
D.  D.,  of  I^ew  Haven,  a  native  of  Suifield,  was  sung  in  the 
tune  of  Old  Hundred : — 

'•  Sweet,  holy  memories  throng  to-day 
The  place  where  we  rejoicing  stand. 
Where  lovely  prospects  stretcli  away 
O'er  hill  and  vale  on  every  hand. 

Not  such  in  olden  time  the  view, 

When  first  God's  servants  gathered  here, 

The  field  and  forest  to  subdue. 

And  home,  and  church,  and  school  to  rear. 

Nobly  they  wrought — those  stalwart  men, 

Led  on  by  him  whose  worthy  name 
And  earnest  zeal,  revived  again, 

We  give  afresh  to  sacred  fame. 

*  Titus  Kent. 


104 

Blest  was  the  Pastor's  early  toil, 

Blest  is  the  memory  of  the  just ; 
Let  sculptured  column  crown  the  soil 

Where  sleeps  serene,  his  honored  dust. 

Virtue  and  faith  survive  the  dead, 

Their  fruits  to  wide  results  expand  ; 
Sons  of  the  sires  have  risen  and  spread 

Their  leavening  power  throughout  the  land. 

Hither  to-day  these  children  come, 

To  greet  the  scenes  of  other  years, 
To  taste  again  the  joys  of  home, 

At  loved  ones'  graves  to  drop  their  tears. 

0  God  !  from  Thee  our  treasures  flow. 
From  Thee,  the  present  and  the  past ; 

A  parting  blessing  now  bestow. 

And  may  we  meet  in  Heaven  at  last !" 

The    Bexediction   was    pronounced    by  Rev.  Henry 

COOLEY, 

It  is  an  interesting  fact,  that  tlie  tune  (Old  China),  in 
which  the  opening  hymn  was  sung,  and  the  closing  hymn, 
were  each  composed  by  a  son  of  Nuffield.* 

*  Timothy  Swan. 


105 


LETTERS 

OF  PERSONS  NOT  PRESENT,  IN  REPLY  TO  INMTATIONS  FROM  THE 

COMMITTEE. 

Fort  Atkinson,  September  4,  1858. 

Mr.  Norton — Very  Dear  Sir  : — Your  favor  of  the  27th  ult.,  waa 
received  on  Wednesday  evening,  but  as  I  was  in  a  neighboring  town 
attending  a  convention  of  ministers,  I  have  not  seen  it  till  this  evening. 
I  hasten  to  reply  very  briefly. 

I  rejoice  exceedingly  to  learn  of  your  purposes  and  plans  in  the 
erection  of  a  respectable  monument  to  the  memory  of  our  honored  an- 
cestor, who  served  the  church  and  his  generation  so  faithfully,  and  in 
so  godly  a  manner,  during  his  short  pilgrimage  on  the  earth,  and  who 
has  now  been  a  glorified  saint  in  heaven  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years. 
I  most  sincerely  thank  you  for  your  invitation  to  be  present  with  you 
on  the  16th  of  the  present  month.  Nothing  of  an  earthly  nature 
would  be  so  gratifying  to  my  feelings  as  to  be  able  to  comply  with 
your  request ;  and  nothing  but  the  want  of  means  prevents  me  from 
turning  my  face  SufSeld-ward  without  delay.  But  I  am  a  superannu- 
ated missionary  of  very  small  means,  and  cannot  command  a  sufficient 
sum  of  money  to  take  me  there,  and  return  me  back.  My  thoughts, 
my  heart,  my  soul,  will  be  with  you,  and  it  is  hard  to  feel  reconciled 
that  my  body  will  have  to  remain  behind.  I  shall  try,  however,  to 
say,  not  my  will,  but  thine,  0  Lord,  be  done. 

Some  eight  years  since  I  set  about  tracing  back  the  genealogy  of 
the  Ruggles'  family  as  far  as  I  could,  and  was  successful  beyond  my 
expectations.  I  will  state  in  few  words  my  line  of  descent  from  my 
great,  great,  great  grandfather,  which  I  am  satisfied  is  perfectly  correct. 

John  Run^gles,  a  native  of  Nasinj;,  Essexshire,  England,  with  his 
wife  Barbaric,  left  their  country  and  kindred  for  the  sake  of  freedom 
of  conscience,  and  came  to  this,  then  new  world,  in  the  year  1634,  in 
the  same  ship  with  Elliott,  the  missionary,  to  the  Indians.  They  had 
then  one  child  two  years  old,  named  John.  They  settled  in  Roxbury, 
Massachusetts.  Benjamin  llugglos  of  Suffield  was  the  son  of  this 
14 


.     106 

second  John.  Benjamin  was  educated  at  Cambridge,  and  graduated 
honorably  when  seventeen  years  of  age.  This  was  considered  very 
young  at  that  time ;  but  he  was  thought  an  uncommon  youth.  He 
was  ordained  in  Suffield  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  I  think.  I  have 
the  record,  but  it  is  at  present  loaned,  I  think,  however,  he  was  thirty- 
two  when  he  died.  He  died  in  Suffield,  greatly  lamented,  as  he  had 
been  greatly  beloved.  He  was  undoubtedly  buried  by  the  side  of  his 
wife,  Mercy,  who  died  about  a  year  and  three  months  previous  to  him. 
They  left  seven  children,  five  daughters  and  two  sons — Mary,  Benja- 
min, Joseph,  Abigail,  Ruth,  Aphia,  Tryphena.  The  mother  died  six 
days  after  the  birth  of  Tryphena.  Joseph  was  my  grandfather.  He 
was  born  in  the  year  1701,  and  died  in  1791,  aged  just  ninety  years. 
He  had  fifteen  children.  My  father,  Samuel,  was  his  youngest  son, 
and  lived  and  died  at  the  homestead  of  his  father  in  Brookfield,  Con- 
necticut. He  left  nine  children,  of  whom  I  am  the  youngest,  and  was 
just  eight  days  old  when  my  father  died.  He  died  at  the  age  of  forty- 
four,  March  17,  1795.  I  am  sixty-three  years  old,  have  four  children, 
two  sons  and  two  daughters. 

I  obtained  my  information  partly  from  tradition,  but  mostly  from 
church  and  town  records,  wills,  deeds,  &c.,  &c.,  in  Boston,  Roxbury, 
Cambridgeport,  and  Suffield.  My  Suffield  informants  are  probably 
dead,  as  they  were  quite  old  when  they  gave  the  information.  I  could 
give  more  particulars  of  the  two  Johns,  and  of  Thomas,  an  elder 
brother  of  John  the  first,  who  came  over  two  years  after,  in  1G36,  but 
as  I  said,  my  documents  are  not  by  me  at  present. 

Please  make  my  kind  regards  and  love  to  all  the  descendants  of  my 
great  grandsire,  Benjamin  Buggies,  who  may  gather  at  your  place,  and 
tell  them,  it  would  rejoice  me  greatly  to  mingle  with  them  on  the  IGth. 
Should  an  account  of  your  meeting  be  published,  I  would  re(|ucst  that 
a  copy  may  be  sent  me,  or  if  it  should  not  be  published,  will  you  be  so 
kind  as  to  inform  me  of  its  results. 

I  am  most  sincerely  yours,  &c. 

SAMUEL  RUGGLES. 


Brookfield,  August  15,  1858. 
Dear  Sir  : — Your  letter  to   Eli  Ruggles  came  to  my   hands  last 
evening.     He  has  been  dead  eleven  years,  and  most  of  his  family  have 


lo: 


left  this  place,  or  are  deceased.  I  married  his  youngest  sister  some 
twenty  years  since.  She  was  one  of  tlie  first  missionaries  to  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  the  wife  of  doctor  Holnian,  who  staid  at  the  Ishmds  some 
two  years,  and  di^d  in  Bridgeport,  some  two  or  three  years  after  his 
return. 

I  am  nearly  eighty-two  years  old,  and  I  remember  Joseph  Ruggles,. 
the  first  of  the  name  who  came  to  this  place,  and  I  believe  the  first  of 
three  or  four  persons  who  settled  here.  As  nearly  as  I  remember,  he 
died  not  far  from  the  beginning  of  this  century,  aged  I  believe,  ninety 
years.  He  was  the  son  of  tlie  Rev.  Benjamin  Buggies  of  Suffield — 
was  deacon  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  here  for  many  years — was  the 
father  of  fifteen  children,  by  three  wives,  all  of  whom  are  now  dead. 

Names  of  the  children  of  Joseph  Buggies  : 


Sarah, 

married 

David  Smith. 

Benjamin, 

married    Sarah  Seely, 

Lois, 

Oliver  Warner. 

Joseph, 

"            Sarah  Dunning. 

Rachel, 

John  Bishop. 

Lazarus, 

"            Hannah  Bostwick. 

Mercy, 

Edmund  Bostwick. 

Timothy, 

"            Sybil  Wooden. 

JIabel, 

Reuben  Bostwick. 

Ashbcl," 

"           Rebecca  Bostwick 

Lucy, 

Jonathan  Starr. 

Elizabeth, 

"            Eli  Segur. 

Anna, 

'• 

William  Phelps. 

Mary, 

"            Nathan  Merwin. 

Samuel,  married  Huldah  Waklee. 

Eli  Buggies  to  whom  your  letter  was  directed,  was  the  eldest  son  of 
Samuel  Buggies,  who  was  the  youngest  son  of  Deacon  Joseph  Buggies. 

Samuel  B.  Buggies  of  New  York,  (canal  commissioner  of  the  Erie 
canal,)  is  the  grandson  of  Lazarus  Buggies,  who  was  the  third  son  of 
Deacon  Joseph  Buggies — he  can  probably  give  some  information  rela- 
tive to  the  Buggies. race. 

Samuel  Buggies,  father  of  my  wife,  was  his  youngest  son,  who  died 
over  sixty  years  since  ;  his  son  Samuel,  who  was,  with  my  wife,  one  of 
the  first  missionaries  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  is  now  residing  at  Fort 
Atkinson,  Wisconsin.  He  has,  I  am  informed,  all  the  documents  re- 
quired, or  that  can  be  obtained  from  any  of  the  descendants  of  Deacon 
Buggies.  His  brother.  Rev.  Isaac  W.  Buggies,  who  died  a  year  or 
two  since,  and  who  resided  at  Pontiac,  Michigan,  had  taken  mueli  pains 
to  obtain  the  genealogy  of  the  Buggies  family,  and  Samuel  can  probably 
obtain  all  the  documents. 

The  above  is  all  I  think  of  at  present  that  can  be  interesting  to  you. 
Yours,  &c., 

DANIEL  TOMLINSOX. 

Daniel  W.  Norton,  Esq. 


108 

Buffalo,  Sep'eniber  13,  1858. 

Daniel  W.  Norton,  Esq. — Sir  : — Your  favor  of  August  28,  to- 
gether with  a  circular  inviting  nic  to  attend  your  celebration  on  the 
16th  of  September,  was  duly  received.  I  immediately  wrote  to  sev- 
eral of  the  Youngloves,  but  have  not  been  able  to  write  since  until  to- 
day. Some  of  the  Younglove  family  will  be  with  you  on  the  16th, — 
but  my  own  bad  health,  and  the  condition  of  my  family,  will  deprive 
me  of  the  pleasure  of  mingling  With  the  multitude  which  will  undoubt- 
edly attend. 

My  mother  was  a  Younglove ;  a  great  grand  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
John  Younglove  of  whom  you  speak.  The  love  which  I  bare  her  in- 
duced me  to  learn  as  much  as  possible  about  her  ancestors,  and  the 
collateral  branches  of  her  family.  Had  my  health  been  spared,  I 
should  have  written  for  you  something  about  the  Youngloves,  which 
would  probably  have  been  interesting  to  all  of  that  name  or  lineage ; 
but  I  have  not  been  able  to  do  it,  I  will,  however,  simply  remark  that 
I  have  often  referred  to  that  family  as  a  proof  that  the  influence  of 
pious  ancestors,  who  not  only  profess  religion,  but  live  it,  will  be  felt 
by  their  descendants  for  many  generations. 
Very  respectfully, 

Yours,  &c., 

W.  K.  SCOTT. 


Hartford,  September  7,  1858. 

Sir  :— I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  favor  of 
the  29th  ult.,  inviting  me  to  be  present  at  Suffield  on  Thursday  the 
16th  inst.,  and  to  join  with  you  in  the  celebration.  I  should  have 
noticed  your  polite  invitation  before,  had  I  not  been  absent  from  home 
for  the  last  ten  days. 

It  would  give  me  much  pleasure  to  meet  you  and  my  other  friends  in 
Suffield  on  that  occasion.  I  had  partially  engaged  to  be  at  New 
Haven  on  Thursday  the  16th,  and  if  I  can  excuse  myself  from  going 
there,  as  I  now  think  I  can,  I  will  do  myself  the  pleasure  of  accepting 
the  kind  invitation  of  your  Committee.     I  will  go  up  in  the  nine 


109 

o'clock  morning  train  to  Windsor  Locks,  and   there  take  the  stage  to 
your  place. 

I  am  with  great  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

JULIUS  CATLIN. 
S.  B.  Kendall,  Esq. 


Norwich,  September  4,  1858. 
S.  B.  Kendall,  Esq. — Dear  Sir  : — Your  favor  of  the  27th  of  Au- 
gust, was  duly  received,  inviting  me  and  my  staff  to  participate  in  the 
exercises  connected  with  the  commemoration  of  the  death  of  the  first 
pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Sufiield. 

I  should  be  very  happy  to  meet  your  citizens,  as  well  as  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  Suffield,  who  will  then  gather  from  all  parts  of  our 
country,  on  an  occasion  of  so  much  interest ;  but  I  have  an  engage- 
ment for  that  and  the  following  day  which  must  deprive  me  of  that 
pleasure. 

I  am  very  respectfully  yours, 

WILLIAM  A.  BUCKINGHAM. 


Hartford,  September  7,  1758. 
■  S.  B.  Kendall,  Esq.— Dear  Sir  : — Your  kind  invitation  to  attend 
your  approaching  celebration  on  the  16th  inst.,  is  received. 

I  regret  to  say  I  shall  not  be  able  to  attend,  as  the   term  of  the  su- 
preme court  commences  here  on  the  14th  inst. 

Accept  my  thanks.  • 

Yours  with  sincere  respect, 

WILLIAM  W.  ELLSWORTH. 


East  Windsor  Hill,  September  10,   1858. 
Rev.  J.  R.  Miller — My  Dear   Sir  : — I  have  just  received  your 
special  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  public  exercises  in  Suffield  to-day. 


110 

It  was  a  liappy  thonglit.  on  the  part  of  tlie  good  people  in  Suffield  to 
signalize  this  sixteenth  day  of  September,  1858,  in  the  manner  set 
forth  by  your  Committee  of  arrangements.  Respecting  the  life  and 
character  of  Rev.  Benjamin  Ruggles,  the  first  pastor  of  your  church,  I 
have  little  knowledge,  but  the  tribute  about  to  be  paid  to  his  memory, 
by  an  intelligent  Christian  people,  is  a  warrant  for  the  strong  impres- 
sion which  I  have  of  his  ministerial  worth.  Who  can  estimate  aright 
the  influence  transmitted  to  successive  generations  in  Suffield  by  the 
man  of  God  whose  virtues  and  toils  are  now  gratefully  recalled  ?  And 
what  an  incentive  does  this  thought  supply  to  us,  entrusted  as  we  are  in 
our  several  spheres,  with  a  work  which  borrows  most  of  its  significance 
from  the  distant  future  ! 

I  regret  that  my  associates,  Drs.  Vermilye  and  Lawrence,  are  out  of 
the  State  at  this  time,  and  that  it  is  impracticable  for  me  to  witness  the 
joyful  and  instructive  solemnity  which  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Suf- 
field will  never  forgot.  May  the  God  of  their  fathers  be  their  God  ! 
May  those  evangelical  doctrines  and  institutions  to  which  Connecticut 
and  New  England  are  so  deeply  indebted  for  all  their  solid  advantages 
be  maintained  evermore  in  the  favored  town  where  your  lot  is  cast ! 

With  a  grateful  acknowledgement  of  the  kind  invitation  extended  to 
mc  by  the  Committee  and  yourself, 

I  am  yours  sincerely, 

WILLIAM  THOMPSON. 


Paterson,  N.  J.,  August  31,  1858. 
Mr.  Daniel  W.  Norton. — Dear  Sir  : — I  have  just  returned  home 
after  an  absence  of  some  days  with  my  family,  which  must  excuse  the 
delay  in  my  answer  to  your  note  of  last  week.  It  will  afford  me  great 
pleasure  to  attend  the  interesting  ceremonies  in  Suffield  on  the  16th 
of  September  next,  and  I  shall  esteem  it  an  honor  to  take  an  active 
part  in  them. 

There  is  some  uncertainty  whether  I  can  gratify  my  wish  to  be  with 
you.     The  time  happens  to  be  exceedingly  inconvenient  for  me.     But 
I  will  make  every  effort,  and  if  not  disappointed  will,  in  company  with 
my  wife  and  two  sons,  unite  with  you  in  the  celebration  of  the  day. 
Very  truly  yours, 

WILLIAM  H.  HORNBLOWER. 


Ill 

Utica,  N.  Y.,  August  2G,  1858. 

Dear  Sir  : — Your  circular  and  letter,  conveying  to  me  the  informa- 
tion of  your  intended  commemoration  of  the  anniversary  of  the  decease 
of  your  first  pastor,  has  been  duly  received.  The  observance  of  that 
day  will  give  favoralde  opportunity  for  a  rare  gathering  of  the  scattered 
sons  and  daughters  of  old  Suffield  ;  and  they  will  without  doubt  avail 
themselves  of  it,  and  come  bringing  many  a  liberal  offering  both  in 
mind  and  money,  to  aid  in  the  accomplishment  of  your  praiseworthy 
monumental  enterprise — with  many  an  eloquent  word  of  pleasant  mem- 
ories of  "  days  of  yore,"  to  contribute  to  the  interest  of  the  occasion. 

I  do  deeply  regret  that  circumstances  will  prevent  my  acceptance  of 
your  very  polite  and  cordial  invitation  to  attend,  and  mingle  with  you 
in  the  exercises  and  pleasures  of  the  celebration.  I  can  only  tender  to 
you  my  best  wishes  for  the  success  of  your  efforts,  and  the  hope  that 
there  may  be  a  glorious  reunion  of  friends  and  citizens  from  far  and 
near  to  participate  in  the  observances  of  the  anniversary. 
With  respectful  regard,  your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  YOUNGLOVE. 

D.  W.  Norton,  Esq. 


North  Bennington,  Vt.,  September  7,  1858. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  received  yours  of  August  29th,  a  day  or  two  since, 
and  hasten  to  thank  you  for  your  kind  invitation  to  be  present  with 
you  on  the  IGth.  I  am  sorry  that  my  engagements  will  not  allow  mo 
to  do  so,  as  we  have  engaged  to  spend  the  next  two  or  three  weeks 
with  our  friends  at  Saratoga,  and  other  places.  We  should  feel  much 
pleased  in  being  with  you  on  that  occasion,  if  wo  C(juld  do  so. 

I  hope  you  will  succeed  in  your  enterprise  of  erecting  a  monument 
to  the  memory  of  llev.  Benjamin  Buggies.  I  shall  be  happy  to  hear 
of  your  success. 

Eespectfully  yours, 

J.  Y.  BRECKENRIDGE. 
Mr.  D.  W.  Norton. 


Cincinnati,  August  29,  1858. 
My  Dear  Sir  : — Owing  to  my  absence  for  some  weeks  past,  your 
kind  letter  of  the  13th  inst.  did  not  come  to  my  possession  until  this 


112 

morning.  I  am  very  thankful  for  the  invitation  it  contains,  to  be  pres- 
ent in  my  native  town,  on  the  interesting  occasion  mentioned  in  your 
letter,  as  also  for  the  polite  manner  of  its  communication. 

For  many  years  past  it  has  been  my  settled  purpose  to  visit  the 
place  of  my  birth,  and  look  at  the  mouldering  grave-stones  of  my  an- 
cestors ;  but  heretofore  circumstances  have  intervened  to  prevent  it. 

It  could  not  be  otherwise  than  interesting  to  me  to  visit  the  place 
where  I  was  born.  I  dare  not  now  say  that  I  can  be  present  on  the 
occasion  to  which  you  refer.  But  for  my  recent  protracted  absence 
from  home  I  would  promise  without  hesitation  to  be  with  you  on  the 
16th  proximo  ;  but  under  existing  circumstances,  it  is  doubtful  if  I 
shall  be  able  to  enjoy  that  pleasure.  If  however,  I  can  so  arrange  my 
business  as  to  leave  home  I  shall  most  gladly  comply  with  your  kind 
invitation. 

Hoping  I  may  hear  from  you  again,  and  often, 

I  am  truly  yours, 

H.  H.  LEAVITT. 

Wm.  L.  Loomis,  Esq. 


New  York,  August  24,  1858. 

Dear  Sir  : — Your  favor  of  the  24th  inst.  containing  enclosures  for 
Messrs.  Watt,  Wright,  and  John  I.  Sherman,  was  duly  received,  and 
the  notes  delivered  as  you  requested.  Our  legal  vacation  closes  on 
the  1st  September  proximo,  and  my  business  engagements,  which  are 
just  now  somewhat  urgent,  will,  much  to  my  regret  prevent  my  attend- 
ing the  commemoration  alluded  to  in  your  circular. 

You  will  however,  please  present  the  thanks  of  myself  and  wife  to 
the  gentlemen  comprising  the  Committee  of  correspondenise  for  the 
compliment  of  their  invitation,  and  also  accept  our  acknowledgments 
personally  for  your  courtesy  and  politeness. 

With  our  regards  to  yourself  and  family,  I  remain. 
Very  respectfully  and  sincerely  yours, 

C.  A.  SHERMAN, 

Rev.  D.  Hemenway. 


113 


New  Haven,  September  9,  1858. 

Dear  Sir  : — ^T  herewith  send  you  the  ode  I  have  written  for  the 
celebration  next  week.  I  am  sorry  not  to  have  sent  it  sooner,  but  cir- 
cumstances prevented  my  doing  so.  It  is  longer  than  I  intended  it  to 
be.  The  last  verse  but  one  may  be  left  out  if  thought  best.  I  have 
sent  a  copy  of  this  ode  to  Mr.  C.  F.  Loomis,  who  is  to  conduct 
the  singing.  He  proposed  that  it  be  adapted  to  "  Old  Hundred," 
and  I  have  written  it  for  that  tune. 

I  hope  I  shall  be  able  to  attend  the  celebration. 

Yours  truly, 


S.  D.  PHELPS. 


D.  W.  Norton,  Esq. 


Hartford,  September  9th,  1858. 
Kev.  Mr.  Miller — Dear  Sir  : — It  would  afford  me  great  pleas- 
ure to  be  with  you  on  the  occasion  mentioned  in  your  kind  note  just 
received ;  but  there  is  to  be  a  special  meeting  of  the  corporation  of 
Yale  College  on  that  day  for  the  tran inaction  of  important  business,  and 
my  duty  will  require  me  to  meet  with  them.  The  programme  of  exer- 
cises interests  me  much,  and  if  well  carried  out,  you  cannot  fail  to 
have  an  interesting  and  profitable  occasion.     So  may  it  be. 

Yours  in  Christ, 

J.  HAWES, 


.Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  September  6,  1858. 
Gentlemen  : — I  have  received  your  circular  of  invitation  to  attend 
the  celebration  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the 
death  of  the  first  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  Suffield, 
Eev.  Benjamin  Buggies,  which  is  to  take  place  on  the  16th  of 
September,  1858. 

I  regret  to  say,   that  engagements,   which  T  cqu  neither  perform  in 
15 


114 

advance  nor  postpone,  will  deprive  me  of  the  great  pleasure  of  being 
with  you  on  that  interesting  occasion  ;  but,  Providence  permitting, 
Mrs.  Sizer  will  be  there  to  join  with  the  sons  and  daughters  of  Sufl&eld 
in  those  sacred  festivities,  and  also  to  point  out  to  our  little  son  the 
graves  of  our  ancestors,  the  Hales,  the  Nortons  and  the  Remingtons, 
some  of  whom  labored  with,  and  most  of  whom  now  sleep  by  the  side 
of  the  illustrious  dead  whose  virtues  you  meet  to  celebrate,  and  over 
whose  remains  you  purpose  to  embody  yovir  filial  and  pious  affection  in 
the  form  of  a  cenotaph. 

The  settlements  of  New  England  were  peculiar.  Neither  mineral 
wealth,  commercial  prosperity,  nor  ambition  to  wield  a  political  scepter, 
tempted  her  pioneers  to  those  rocky  shores.  They  came  to  enjoy 
a  free  gospel  and  an  equality  of  civil  rights.  Hence  the  minister 
and  the  teacher,  the  church  and  the  school-house  were  made  radical, 
central,  and  indispensable  institutions  in  the  framework  of  the  new 
society.  These  constituted  the  focus  and  heart  of  the  community,  and 
to  this  day,  not  only  in  New  England,  but  among  New  England ers, 
who  are  scattered  as  noble  pioneers  for  good  all  over  the  world,  the 
family,  the  school,  and  the  church — purity,  education  and  piety,  are 
paramount  in  their  characters  and  prominent  elements  in  the  institu- 
tions which  they  planted. 

It  is  fitting,  therefore,  to  meet  for  the  purposes  which  call  you  to- 
gether, to  commemorate  the  virtues,  and  to  build  a  monument  over  the 
ashes  of  Benjamin  Ruggles,  the  eminent  New  England  minister  and 
pioneer  of  liberty  and  law  in  the  wilderness. 

God  bless  you,  and  prosper  your  laudable  work  ! 
Yours  truly, 

NELSON  SIZER. 

Rev.  D.  Hemenway,  and  others. 


City  op  Washington,  August  26,  185S. 
Dear  Sir  : — I  have  received  your  kind  invitation  to  be  present  at 
the  One  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  decease  of  the  Rev. 
Benjamin  Ruggles.  If  it  is  possible  I  shall  be  present.  Few  will  be 
present  whose  recollections  can  extend  back  farther  than  mine.  I  can 
distinctly  remember  the  father  of  the  late  Rev.  Ebeoezer  Gay  in  thq 


116 

pulpit  of  the  old  church,  with  his  great  white  wig,  about  the  year  1794 
being  born  myself  August  24,  1788. 

It  would  give  me  great  satisfaction  to  once  more  visit  "  Old  Suf- 
field,"  and  the  graves  of  my  parents.  Remember  me  with  sincere  re- 
gard to  all  that  remember  me. 

Acce^jt  my  sincere  regard, 

CHAUNCEY  BESTOR. 
Daniel  W.  Norton,  Esq. 


Hudson,  Ohio,  September  13, 1858. 

Gentlemen  : — I  am  honored  with  an  invitation  through  your  circu- 
lar of  the  27th  of  July  last,  accompanied  with  a  polite  request  from 
my  worthy  friend  Daniel  W.  Norton,  Esq.,  to  be  present  at  Suffield  on 
the  16th  inst.,  to  join  you  in  celebrating  the  One  Hundred  and  Fiftieth 
Anniversary  of  the  decease  of  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Ruggles  ;  and  though 
I  regret  to  say  that  business  relations  will  deprive  me  of  that  satisfac- 
tion, yet  be  assured  that  nothing  would  give  me  or  my  wife,  who  is  a 
daughter  of  Suffield,  greater  pleasure  than  to  participate  in  the  festivi- 
ties of  that  occasion. 

Suffield  had  her  full  share  in  the  early  struggles  and  privations  inci- 
dent to  a  new  settlement,  has  maintained  a  healthy  progress  in  all  the 
elements  of  civilization  and  Christianity,  and  commended  herself  to  the 
favorable  consideration  of  enlightened  men  everywhere,  by  giving,  in 
the  persons  of  her  children,  the  riches  of  her  experience,  enterprise  and 
knowledge  to  almost  every  locality  in  the  union.  Little  as  I  am  versed 
in  her  history,  I  know  that  Ohio  still  remembers  with  just  pride  a 
chief  justice  of  our  own  supreme  court,  and  a  United  States  senator, 
(the  latter,  if  I  mistake  not,  being  a  descendant  of  the  very  person 
whose  demise  you  commemorate,)  together  with  many  other  distin- 
guished men  who  trace  their  nativity  to  Suffield  ;  and  well  may  she 
point  to  her  children  in  distant  states  and  climes,  and  without  arro- 
gance or  ostentation  challenge  competition. 

The  enterprise  in  which  your  church  is  engaged,  is  a  noble  one,  and 
worthy  of  Suffield,  and  you  have  the  united  aspirations  of  myself  and 
wife  that  it  will  meet  with  entire  success  ;  and  that  your  festival  and 
its  results  may  become  in  the  hearts  of  residents  and  distant  children 
new  incentives  to  noble  deeds,   and  additional  instrumentalities  in  the 


116 

hands  of  Providence  of  a  deeper  and  more  lasting  attachment  to  the 
land  of  their  origin. 

Be  pleased  to  accept  my  highest  esteem. 

VAN.  B.  HUMPHREY. 
Rev.  Daniel  Hemenway,  and  others. 


Dayton,  0.,  September  9,  1858. 

GrENTLEMEN  : — Your  invitation  to  be  present  at  Sufl&eld  on  the  16th 
inst.,  at  the  commemoration  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  Anniver- 
sary of  the  decease  of  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Ruggles,  the  first  pastor  of  the 
First  Congregational  Church,  I  received  this  morning. 

As  a  descendant,  as  you  please  to  say,  "of  one  of  old  Sufl&eld's 
best  sons,  and  also  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Devotion,  who  succeeded  Mr.  Rug- 
gles in  the  ministry  "  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  I  should  be  re- 
joiced were  it  in  my  power  to  be  with  you  on  the  very  interesting  occa- 
sion of  the  proposed  commemoration. 

I  admire  and  appreciate  the  attachment  of  the  people  of  SuflBeld  to 
the  memories  of  their  forefathers,  their  careful  preservation  of  the  his- 
tory of  their  ancient  town,  and  their  far-reaching  interest  displayed  in 
following  over  the  earth  as  it  were,  those  descendants  of  her  early  citi- 
zens, whose  lot  in  life  is  not  cast  upon  the  pleasant  banks  of  the  Con- 
necticut, and  to  whom  the  time-honored  tombs  of  Suffield  are  but  a 
solemn  yet  pleasing  remembrance. 

You  attach  us  to  you  by  links  of  sympathy,  bearing  from  you  to  us, 
and  back  to  you  again,  the  kindliest,  indeed  I  may  say  the  most  fi-ater- 
nal  feeling.  I  am  daily  reminded  that ' '  old  Sufiield ' '  was  the  home  of  my 
American  ancestors  on  the  paternal  side.  My  grandfather,  Eliphalet 
King's  two  military  commissions,  one  under  "  King  George,"  signed 
before  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution,  but  the  other  dated  January 
1st,  1776,  from  the  Continental  Congress  and  signed  by  John  Han- 
cock, are  framed  with  a  silhouette  likeness  of  grandfather  in  the  upper 
portion,  and  adorn  the  walls  of  our  parlor.  On  the  fourth  of  July  last, 
as  they  will  be  on  each  succeeding  anniversary,  they  were  encircled 
with  beautiful  evergreens  and  wreaths  by  the  willing  hands  of  my  wife 
and  daughter.  I  have  also  in  my  possession  grandfather's  revolution- 
ary musket,    (officers  at  the  time  of  that  period  cai-ried  muskets)  of 


117 

English  manufacture,  the  lock  bearing  date,  "  June  1762."  It  was 
captured  from  the  British  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution,  and 
is  now  in  a  good  state  of  preservation. 

My  father,  Augustus  King,  as  you  are  aware,  was  born  in  Suffield. 
He  died  on  the  19th  of  September,  1856,  aged  seventy-two  years. 
He  was  all  that  a  man,  a  husband,  a  father,  a  good  citizen  and  a  chris- 
tian should  be.  A  son  can  say  no  more.  I  enclose  an  account  of  his 
death,  "  written  by  his  son-in-law  to  Mr.  Putnam  :" 

ACCOUNT. 

Dear  Friend  : — Caroline  has  just  reminded  me  of  a  duty  which 
ought  to  have  been  performed  a  few  days  ago,  a  mournful  and  yet 
delightful  task.  Your  old  friend,  father  King,  has  moved  away  from 
among  us.  He  has  gone  to  another  world.  For  over  fifty  years  he 
has  been  studying  the  history,  and  tracing  the  maps  of  a  "  brighter 
world."  He  became  dissatisfied  with  this  world  of  diurnal  darkness 
and  light,  of  pain  and  of  death  ;  and  for  more  than  fifty  years  he  has 
led  a  nomadic  life,  daily  seeking  for  green  pastures  ;  but  alas  I  they 
were  nowhere  to  be  found  upon  earth.  He  had  lived  out  the  allotted 
days  of  man  upon  earth,  with  three  years  "  grace."  He  left  us  on  his 
birth-day,  being  exactly  seventy-three  years  old. 

As  he  was  about  leaving  he  told  us  with  feelings  of  enraptured  de- 
light, that  he  had  found  another,  yea,  a  heavenly  world.  The  old  man 
was  young  again.  He  smiled  and  rejoiced  like  a  child,  as  he  drew 
near  his  journey's  end.  "  Oh  I"  said  he,  "what  a  lovely  Savior  I 
have  found  ;  He  is  very  near." 

Father  King  had  been  afflcted  with  bronchitis  for  a  year,  which 
finally  terminated  his  life  here.  He  was  confined  to  his  bed  for  three 
weeks,  the  last  two  he  had  to  have  some  one  with  him  all  the  time. 
Caroline  stood  by  him  unremittingly  nineteen  hours  out  of  the  twenty- 
four,  the  whole  time,  none  of  us  could  prevent  her.  On  the  night  of 
the  19th  we  saw  that  he  must  soon  leave  us.  At  nine  P.  JI.,  we  all 
gathered  around  his  bed.  He  was  bolstered  up  straight ;  calmly  he 
looked  around  upon  us ;  not  a  word  was  said  ;  not  a  movement  made  ; 
all  was  calm  and  quiet  as  night.  Here  was  a  scene  for  Eaphacl ;  his 
immortal  pencil  could  not  desire  a  grander  scene.  There  sat  the 
white-haired  old  man  transformed  into  an  angel.  At  the  head  on  one 
side  stood  the  sympathizing  doctor  ;  near  him  Edward  sat,  leaning  on 
the  bed  ;  in  the  middle  sat  Eufus  on  the   bed-side  holding  his  father's 


118 

hand  ;  I  leaned  on  the  post  at  the  foot ;  at  the  other  foot-post  stood 
Edward's  wife  ;  in  the  middle  on  the  other  side  sat  Caroline  with  her 
father's  other  hand  in  hers  ;  at  the  other  head-post  leaned  an  old  friend, 
who  had  been  with  him  several  days.  Stillness  reigned  supreme. 
We  know  the  angels  are  here  among  us  ;  we  know  their  errand.;  we 
treat  them  with  reverence.  The  old  saint  is  the  first  to  move.  He 
withdraws  his  hand,  and  looks  an  invitation  for  me  to  come  and  bid 
him  a  long  farewell.  In  like  manner  he  withdrew  his  hand  from  mine, 
and  so  on  till  I  thought  all  had  parted  with  him.  He  looked  for 
others  :  I  thought  of  our  two  faithful  servant  girls  that  have  been  with 
us  for  several  years.  I  sent  for  them  ;  they  in  like  manner  bid  him  a 
long  farewell,  still  not  a  word  was  spoken.  He  then  shut  his  eyes 
and  breathed  less  and  less.  I  took  his  hand  and  looked  at  him  closely. 
Not  a  muscle  moved  ;  not  a  sigh,  or  an  inhalation  to  disturb  the  beauty 
of  the  scene.  Less  and  less  became  the  movement  of  his  breast,  until  all 
was  still !  The  angels  stole  him  away  when  my  eyes,  when  all  eyes 
were  fixed  upon  him,  and  we  knew  not  the  moment  that  he  departed 
with  them.  Never  did  a  babe  go  more  quietly  to  sleep  on  its  mother's 
bosom,  than  did  father  King  on  the  bosom  of  his  Savior. 

We  laid  him,  in  the  same  vault  by  his  wife.  She  had  been  there 
thirteen  winters  waiting  for  him.  They  now  sleep  together  on  earth. 
They  now  sing  together  in  heaven.  Your  Friend,       . 

Please  accept  my  acknowledgements  for  your  kind  invitation,  and 
think  of  me  as  one  who  never  forgets  his  Suflfield  descent,  and  who  is 
always  deeply  interested  in  all  that  concerns  "  Old  Suffield  "  and  its 
people.  In  your  midst,  for  almost  hundreds  of  years,  have  reposed  the 
remains  of  my  ancestors,  and  I  recur  to  the  fact  with  an  almost  Indian- 
like feeling  of  regard  for  the  spot  where  they  lie.  That  the  people  of 
Suffield  may  always  be  what  the  people  of  Suffield  have  always  been — 
Christian,  loving,  generous  and  patriotic,  fit  guardians  of  their  honored 
dead,  and  fit  tutors  and  exemplars  to  their  children,  is  my  earnest  wish 
in  their  behalf. 

Very  truly  yours, 

EDWARD  A.  KING. 

Rev.  Daniel  Hemenway,  and  others. 


^ 


ERRATA. 

On  page  86,  12th  line  from  bottom,  read  "  we  "  for  "  all." 
Page  88,  3d  line  from  top,  read  "  an  "  for  "  all." 
Page  93,  in  2d  line  of  2d  paragraph,  read  "  quick  "  for  "  quiet." 
Page  94,  13th  line  from  top,  read  "  relation  "  for  "  relative;"    and  7th  line  of  3d 
paragraph,  same  page,  read  "  succeeding  "  for  "  surrounding." 


1  r 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


Series  9482 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000  876    40    5 


